


Satisfying Curiosities

by LeaderKrios



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Canon Divergent Dialogue, Custom Sara, F/M, Fluff, Forgive me for my trash, Hurt and comfort, I'm bad at this, I'm not going to heaven, I've already sold my soul to bioware, Neurodivergent Sara, Porn starting at chapter 12, Sara has Anxiety, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, for i have sinned, forgive me father, xenophillia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:49:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeaderKrios/pseuds/LeaderKrios
Summary: Jaal is curious about Humans. Sara is curious about Angara. Slowly Sara and Jaal share questions and answers to satisfy each other's curiosity and grow closer.





	1. Second-First Contact

Sara Ryder stood outside of the tech lab pondering her approach to the current situation. Maybe her first impression with the new alien crewmate wasn’t _exactly_ ideal. Landing on a secret, protected planet on fire was typically not how first contact protocol was supposed to go. But Sara had always been one for improvisation. She wasn’t particularly _good_ at it, but hey, she managed to get him to join her crew. Albeit he was there to watch her, and kill her, in the case she was suspicious but some friendships just kind of start that way, right?

Sara isn’t good at communicating. At science, exploration, recon and tinkering? Abso-fucking-lutely. Talking to people? She tended to fumble on words, freeze under pressure, get too excited about a subject and scare them away, dork shit. The only person that was usually able to follow her long trains of thought and awkward puns was her brother, Scott, and he was in a coma so she had no current translator from Sara to normal person.

She didn’t come here for this. For leading people, finding planets, fighting. She came here for science and adventure and letting her dad do the leading and the fighting and all that shit. Sara Ryder had a lot of hopes for the Andromeda Initiative. New discoveries, lush planets, scientific breakthroughs, first contact, etc… When she went into cryo, her last thoughts were of the vids they showed them all. The golden worlds in all their glory. So much potential. So much hope. She couldn’t wait to discover it all.

And then the 600-year dream was over and reality majorly fucked her in the ass, without lube. Habitat 7, the human golden world, was a complete shitshow. Hostile atmosphere, unbreathable air, electrical storms blowing their shit out of the sky. Liam had called it hell. Sara was inclined to agree. The only aliens they had come across were hostile, pissed and, might she add, damn scary looking. She wasn’t sure if their armor was made out of bone, was their bones, enemies bones, maybe? Either way they shot one of her squad and would have taken two if she hadn’t have broken protocol and sniped the ones after Fisher once she had noticed things going south. Then there were the bots. They were really fucking cool; for like .5 seconds before they tried to kill Sara and Kosta.

Sara explored every inch she could of Habitat-7 before meeting up with her dad. While it was scary, it was extremely fascinating, and the scientist in her had to see all the nooks and crannies of this electric, alien-infested hellhole. The mountains floated, there were alien monoliths surrounding the area that radiated a mysterious and powerful energy, signs of some sort of alien race with more technological advancements than the ones they had encountered before. They were studying it, the strange bone-aliens with their genetic code so all-over the place that even SAM couldn’t make sense of it. Sara wanted to study it too.

When she saw her dad interface with it, saw the skies clear and the atmosphere change, she felt a spark of hope in her heart. Her dad did too, looking into his eyes as they both marveled at the technology they had found. Even if this planet was fucked up, what could they do with this technology? What could they accomplish? But then reality was ready for ass-fucking round two.

Sara used to be close to her dad. Alec was her hero when she was younger. The man could do no wrong. When he came home from being deployed she would greet him with hugs and kisses and he would tell her all about the planets he had visited, the battles he had fought, colonies he had saved. He taught Sara and Scott everything he knew from N7 training, how to handle a gun, survival techniques, the best. While Sara is quick to claim that she got her brains and love for science from her mom, she got everything else from Alec.

Stubborn, Captain Dunn had called him.

“Stubborn runs in the family,” Sara claimed proudly, a smirk playing at her lips. “guess I rubbed off on him.”

So, while they had drifted apart after his discharge from the alliance, and more so after Ellen’s death, Sara Ryder was completely wrecked by the news that her dad had died on Habitat-7. That he had sacrificed himself to save her. Close or not, this was supposed to be their fresh start. Andromeda was going to be their chance at being a family again, without the shame of the past. Her dad was dead, her brother in a coma, and she was stuck with a job she didn’t want or deserve. They had traveled 600 years for a fresh start and fucked it all up on their first day.

Dad was good at this stuff. Good at talking to people, making them like him, or at least respect him. He was a natural leader. His improvisations _worked_. He was a force of nature on Habitat-7. A decorated N7 soldier. He was confident, powerful.

And now he was dead.

And Sara was pathfinder.

She took a deep breath before finally opening the door with her omni tool. Jaal glanced at her over his shoulder, giving a nod of acknowledgment while he moved a box across the room. He had been unpacking and moving his stuff into the tech lab. Before Jaal, Sara would camp out in there, modding her weapons, building new ones, studying guns she stole from the Kett. Now she supposed she would have to share with Jaal, who seemed to have an interest in Kett weaponry as well. Perhaps they could bond over that.

“Pathfinder.” Jaal greeted her, looking at her with curiosity. “Did you need something?”

“Ah, yes, sorry I tend to get lost in my own thoughts every now and then!” Sara flushed, stepping fully into the room, allowing the door to shut behind her. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, is the crew treating you ok? Do you need help with anything?”

He seemed to ponder her questions for a moment before responding. “They are distant but not unaccommodating. They do not seem to fully trust me yet, which is understandable.” He came to stand near her, inside her personal space, as usual. “I have sent you a list of everything I brought on-board with me, did you receive it?”

“Yes, SAM alerted me to it a while ago so I checked my terminal. Just let me know if you need anything and I’ll do my best to get it for you.” Sara smiled at him. She was making good progress. She hadn’t stumbled yet. Good. This was going good.

“Is there anything else you needed, Pathfinder?”

Damn, lost in her thoughts again. She had probably been staring at him. “Oh, you can just call me Sara, if you’d like. It feels weird when people are formal with me.”

“Sara” He tested the name out, rolling his rs. “I will try to remember. Your names are strange and I’m unsure if I am saying them correctly.”

“Nope, you said it right. Just ask if you think you’re saying something wrong.” She paused. “Or if you have questions on anything in general.”

Jaal chuckled. “I have so many questions that I’m afraid I’d keep you here for some time.”

“Go ahead and shoot!”

Jaal seemed taken aback by her phrasing. “Shoot what?”

“O-oh. Um. I meant go ahead and ask. It’s a human phrase I guess I should have considered you wouldn’t get.”

“Ah, Idiom?” He drew the word _idiom_ out, sounding each syllable. “I think perhaps we should come to trust one another better before we answer each other’s questions. Prove yourself to me, to Efra, and then I will know to trust you.”

“That makes sense.” She was disappointed, but understood. “And if I don’t prove myself?”

Jaal shrugged, a seemingly universal gesture. “I could always kill you in your sleep.” Sara couldn’t tell if that was humor she detected in his voice or if he was being serious.

“Oh, ok.” She squeaked. “Good to know.” Sara cleared her throat. “I’ll see you later then, Jaal.”

The Angara nodded, turning back to his work. “Stay strong and clear, Sara.”

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she exited Jaal’s room. That’s went…better, she supposed. Better than her crashing on Aya on fire. Better than, something, she’s sure.

“Alright, SAM, time to prove ourselves I guess. Tell Kallo to set a course for Havarl.”

_‘Kallo has been notified and requests your presence on the bridge.’_

Alright. Sara wasn’t her father. She wasn’t N7. She wasn’t an experienced soldier with years of training under her belt. But, like it or not, she was pathfinder now. If the Angara needed her to prove herself to get to that vault and save the rest of the planets in the cluster, then she’d just have to prove herself.

And stars help anyone who got in her way.


	2. Ryder Family Secret Recipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara learns that the phrase "the quickest route to a man's heart is his stomach" is universally true.

There were plenty of things that Sara missed from the Milky Way. Visiting her grandparents on earth, mountain climbing, the smell of lavender fields, sand between her toes and the warm summer breeze coming inland from the sea. And chocolate. She really missed chocolate.

So when she found chocolate chips in Vetra’s “negotiating” stores, she bartered for it with her life. Well not really her life, she just promised to do her chores on the ship for a week. And now she was baking. Her grandfather had made the best chocolate chip cookies she had ever tasted. She brought his recipe book to Helius with her, one of the few things she could bring.

Of course, there would have to be substitutions. In fact, it seemed that much of the recipe would need substitutions. Synthetic milk, synthetic eggs. She supposed she could have used blood in place of eggs but that would have been frowned upon. It also would have left a metallic taste in the cookie. She didn’t care much for metal cookies. Sara sat on the table in the kitchen, eating the leftover batter as the cookies baked in the oven. The dough tasted fine, the smell from the oven wasn’t terrible. She supposed she did a good job, by the way Liam was walking by every few minutes, peeking in to see if the cookies were done yet, discreetly. He wouldn’t get any. These cookies were for someone else.

They were for Jaal. After seeing what he had seen on Voeld, he needed comfort. She had seen him weep for his people. Sara knelt next to Jaal, holding him close as he wept, whispering to him, asking if he needed anything of her.

“That is kind.” He breathed between tears. “You are kind.”

The Angara were free with their emotions. They were not ashamed of them. Jaal felt no shame for crying in front of Sara. From Sara’s understanding, they had shared a bonding moment. Had felt each other’s pain. And now they will share another bonding moment. With cookies.

Sara hopped down from table as the timer went off. She could hear Liam’s swift footsteps. The bastard had somehow heard the oven go off from across the ship. Sara ordered SAM to lock the doors to the kitchen while she let the cookies cool. The slid shut with a click right as Liam reached the door.

“Oh, come on!”

“These cookies aren’t for you Kosta!” Sara laughed at the sound of frustration behind the door.

“Just one, Sara! I swear I’ll only eat one!”

“You don’t just eat one Ryder family chocolate chip cookie Liam.” She lifted the pans out of the oven, setting them under the stove fans to cool. “If you eat one you’ll want to eat them all.” She was teasing him. She planned on setting some aside for the rest of the crew. She had even baked a special batch for Vetra. But Liam didn’t need to know that right now. Let him stew in frustration and longing for now. When SAM gave Sara notice that the path to the tech lab was clear she wrapped her creations carefully in cloth over the plate and tied it up with a ribbon.

“Jaal?” Sara knocked on the door the tech lab. She had been giving him space since Voeld. Since the Kett facility. While they had the Moshae back, they had stayed on Voeld to activate the monoliths and restore viability. She had tried everything she could to help the Angara on Voeld. She had also marked a spot for an Initiative outpost. Every mission she went on she had given Jaal the option of staying on the ship, with the Moshae. Every mission he insisted oncoming along.

The door to the tech lab hissed open. “Sara,” Jaal greeted her, welcoming her inside. “Are we leaving again? We only just got back and I’m drying my Rofjin of snow.”

Sara chuckled, stepping inside. “No, this is a non-work related visit.” Handing Jaal the plate, she hopped up on one of the counters, gesturing for him to untie the ribbon. “I made something for you. A human dessert, it is a recipe from my grandfather, a family recipe.”

Jaal uncovered the plate, taking a deep breath. “They smell delicious Sara.” He looked into her eyes. “Thank you..”

She shrugged. “I said I’d bring snacks, right?”

“Ah, yes.” He chuckled, sitting on some boxes across from her. “I suppose you have proven yourself, and are no longer in danger of being killed in your sleep.”

“Yes, um. You were kidding about that, right?”

Jaal gave her a mischievous look, lifting a cookie to his mouth and blowing on it to insure it wasn’t going to burn him. “I heard Liam was looking forward to these. They must be a delicacy.”

“Some humans would be inclined to believe you.” She reached for one herself, relishing the taste. Yea, she did good with this batch. “Few can resist Grandpa Ryder’s chocolate chip cookies.”

Jaal made a face that communicated he agreed. “They are splendid! Better than the food Liam has attempted to get me to eat.”

The significance of sharing this with him wasn’t lost on her. Family is important to the Angara. Sharing something like this, a memento from her grandfather. This was significant for Jaal. A show of friendship. Of trust. It was significant to Sara as well. She wanted to know Jaal better. Wanted to know his people better. She hoped Jaal felt the same.

“I believe you’ve made a mistake, making these for me.”

“What do you mean?”

Jaal laughed at the sight on the pathfinder’s face. She had mistaken his tone for serious. “I might have to request you make them again for me in the future.”

Sara softened. “Liam would get jealous if I kept making you special deserts while he salivates outside the locked kitchen door.”

“I believe I can live with that, if you can.” He set the plate aside, taking her hand in his. “Thank you, Sara, this means a lot to me.”

“You’re part of our little Tempest family now, big guy.” The way Jaal looked at her when she said that made Sara flush. “I’m happy you’re here. Happy you decided to join my crew.” _Happy you decided to stay._ She doesn’t say this, but she thinks it. And by the way Jaal looks at her, he can tell what she meant to say.

They both stared at each other for a while. Until they both realized they were staring and they both pulled away. Whatever moment they were having, it was interrupted by their awkward laughter. They looked away from one another.

“So.”

Sara clears her throat. “So…”

“I understand that you are curious about the Angara.” Jaal shifted on his box, busying his hands with twisting the ribbon around. He was nervous. “And I am curious about humans.”

“Hmm” Sara responded, smirking. “If only there were some way to satisfy each other’s curiosities.”

The Angara chuckled. “We could satisfy each other’s, Pathfinder.”

Was this flirting? This felt like flirting. “Sure, shoot.” She kind of hoped it was flirting.

Jaal reached forward to take a strand of her silver hair in his hand, running it between his uncovered fingers. “Human…. hair.” He paused, looking up for confirmation that he had called it the correct name. “What is it for? Why do they come in different colors, different textures and lengths?”

“That’s more than one question but ok. It used to cover our entire bodies to keep us warm, now its only in some places and the hair on our head is just decoration, basically.” She smiled as he inspected her hair closer. “Every human inherits their hair color and texture from their parents, though a lot of us like to use chemicals to change the texture and color.”

“Has yours been altered?”

“Yea, I bleached mine and toned it to be silver, its naturally brown.” She angled her head downwards so he could see her roots. “See? My roots are growing in so you can see what color its supposed to be. I’ll either bleach it again or dye my hair back. I haven’t decided which one.”

Jaal was running his hands through her roots, inspect them. “Human hair grows? And do chemicals like bleach not cause your hair pain?”

Sara laughed. “We can’t feel our hair, we can only feel on our scalp. I can feel you touching my hair right now but only because it’s moving at the roots near the scalp. We even cut our hair occasionally, keeps it from getting in our faces. You’ve noticed I tie mine up every now and then, I’m probably due for a cut soon.”

“Interesting, and the colors?” Jaal backed off. Sara couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She loved the feeling of other people playing with her hair. “What purpose do they serve?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. Whatever role it used to play survival wise, it’s just decoration now.”

Jaal suddenly leaned forward, invading her personal space and focusing his eyes on hers. “What about your eye colors? Humans have so many of them and yet I have not seen ones with your color before.”

He was talking about her red eyes, of course. “I got them dyed back in college. It’s a risky procedure but I had money and liked red so I decided to go for it. They inject a sort of ink into your iris. There is a small chance of becoming blind but that didn’t scare me at the time.” She smiled at the memory. “It pissed my dad off to no end. He couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just get colored contacts like a normal person.”

“You had ink injected into your eyes for decoration?” Jaal looked extremely concerned. “And what are colored contacts?”

“Contacts are small, soft lenses made of a water-absorbing polymer called hydrogel. Some humans use them to correct poor eyesight where most of us use correcting surgery or glasses, plastic-coated glass lenses that bend light to correct vision. Color contacts are for fashion or decoration, though you can get colored contacts that also correct vision.”

“And you put them in your eyes; for decoration?”

“Yep.”

Jaal looked increasingly concerned. “Humans are strange.”

“I agree.”

“You mentioned your father.” Sara looked up on Jaal, his expression had returned to its normal curious state. “Can you tell me what human families are like? How many mothers do humans have, how many siblings?”

Sara paused for a second, considering the odd question. “I can’t speak for all humans but I had 1 mother, as did most other children I grew up with. Some people have two moms or two dads, but in most cases, they were adopted. In some families, they can have multiple parents, moms and dads, who all love each other. Asari children often have more than one mother. As for siblings, I’d say an average human has 1-4 children. My parents only had two, me and my twin brother, Scott.”

Jaals face seemed sad. “Only one mother? And so few siblings.”

“It’s just me and Scott now, though. Mom died before we came to Andromeda and Dad sacrificed himself to save me the first day we woke up here.” She looked away, a sad smile on her face and tears threatening to fall. “And Scott’s stasis pod was damaged by the scourge on our first day. He’s in a medically induced coma right now…”

She was enveloped in big, warm Angaran arms. Jaal pulled Sara close, his body shuddering. She had cried with him in the Kett facility on Voeld at the revelation that his people were being turned into monsters, into Kett. Now he was crying with her over _her_ lost family. Sara let herself cry. She hadn’t cried for her father since he died. She hadn’t cried for Scott since he’d been in his coma. Everything else seemed so much more pressing, so much more important. She had kept it all inside, deeming it less important than her mission, than saving her people. Sara hadn’t even realized it had been building up until Jaal had pulled it out of her.

“I’m sorry.” Sara whimpered into his shoulder.

“Do not be ashamed of your tears, Sara Ryder.” Jaal whispered into her ear. “You have experienced much pain, and there is no shame in grieving for your family. No shame in letting that pain out. It is important for healing.”

She tried to wrap her arms around him but he was too big. So, she held onto his under suit loosely.  They stayed like that until Sara ran out of tears to cry. Until her sobs and sniffles ran out and she felt not healed, but the beginnings of some sort of healing. Even then she stayed in Jaal’s arms for just a bit longer, for comfort.

“Angara,” Jaal started, pulling away slightly to brush a wet strand of hair from Sara’s face. “have big families. We have many mothers, and siblings, and cousins.” He smiled at her. His eyes were wet, and some tears still lingered. “My True Mother, Sahuna, has been asking to meet my strange alien friends. Perhaps someday I might introduce you to her, when we have time.”

Sara grinned. “I’d like that, Jaal.”

_‘Pathfinder, The Moshae is eager to return to Aya and we still need to visit the Vault. I would suggest leaving Voeld as soon as you can, considering you have activated the vault and begun stabilizing the planet.’_

“Ah, right. SAM tell Kallo to set course for Aya when he’s ready.” Sara looked up at Jaal apologetically. “The Moshae wants to head to Aya soon. Unless you wanted to stay?”

“It is best we get the Moshae back to her people. They will be overjoyed at her return, as I am.” Jaal stepped out of Sara’s space, allowing her to jump down from the counter. “Thank you for saving her, Sara, and the abducted Angara. It means a lot to my people. To me.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Jaal. I did what any decent person would have done.”

“I have learned that not every human is decent, nor every Angara.” Jaal lifted Sara’s arm to his, the Angaran form of a handshake. “Isharay, Sara Ryder. I will see you later, when we land on Aya. It seems now we must both return to our work.”

“Stay strong, Jaal.” Sara spoke fondly as she backed out of the room.

“And clear, Sara.”

Sara let the tech lab door hiss shut behind herself, heading to her quarters to file some reports to Tann and Addison before they reached Aya. As she slid down the ladders and walked to her room, she couldn’t help but notice that her heart and body felt much lighter.


	3. Fondness and A Taste of Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaal and Sara talk about home. Sara is curious about Angaran bioelectricty.

Question night had kind of become a regular thing. Every now and then, when they had time or when they didn’t want to work, Sara and Jaal would get together and share facts about their culture, their lives, hobbies, likes and dislikes. And food. They had been sharing popular snack items from each other’s cultures. Sara had tried Angaran food paste, which smelled amazing, but tasted strange and had a texture Sara couldn’t quite stomach.

In preparation, for Liam’s movie night, Sara had bought some extra popcorn, and some delicious kettlecorn, on Kadara. She had also managed to procure human soda and candy for Jaal. Sara hated Kadara, but boy did she love its snack black market.

_‘Pathfinder, Jaal is requesting entrance to your quarters.’_

“Let him in SAM.” Sara arranged her plethora of pillows on her bed so the two of them could sit comfortably and moved her collection of giant stuffed animals to the side. The door opened behind her and she smiled to herself, turning around. “Welcome to my cozy little snack castle, Jaal.” She gestured to the mound of snack foods on her bed. “Choose your weapon.”

Jaal laughed softly at the human’s odd words, he was used to her idioms not making sense to him. “I see Kadara is good for something after all.” He approached the bed, eyeing her collection. “Are these common human snack foods?”

Sara plopped down on her bed, upsetting the pile. “The best foods for watching movies. Don’t worry, I have more for Liam’s movie night thing.” She opened her popped bag of kettle corn and started dumping chocolate-covered peanuts into the bag. After shaking up the contents she extended the bag to Jaal.

“Is that the way all humans eat it?” He reached in to grab a handful.

“That’s the Sara and Ellen Ryder way of eating kettle corn.” She shoveled some of the sweet candy-kettle corn mix into her mouth, patting the space on the bed next to her as an invitation for Jaal to sit. He obliged, sitting gingerly so as not to further decimate the pile of snacks Sara had arranged. “Mom and I would always do this when we went to movie theatres. Dad and Scott thought it was weird but the combination of sweet candy and salty kettle corn is honestly perfection.”

Jaal hummed in agreement, his mouth full of the mix. “It has its charms.”

“Well, it’s not homemade cookies but even this takes me back.”

“Familiar tastes have a way of digging up old memories.”

“Delicious, delicious memories.” Sara tossed some kettle corn in the air to catch it in her mouth. When she failed Jaal laughed at her, earning him a playful swat to the arm. “Alright big guy, what food reminds you of home?”

“There is a fruit that is sold on Aya, it is expensive because it is used for celebrations. My true mother would buy one for our birthdays.”

“That must be a lot of birthdays. Your families are huge.”

Jaal laughed. “They are usually celebrated at a time when each child’s birthdays are near enough to each other that we can fit them all in. If we celebrated each child’s individual birthday we would be buying more fruit than we have credits for.” Jaal cleared his throat. “Do you have something to drink with this? It dries my mouth.”

Sara hopped up and ran across the room, dragging a case back with her. She had almost forgotten to introduce Jaal to soda. The Angara stared at the can curiously.

“How does it open?”

“You pull the little metal tab up and it makes a hole.”

Jaal lifted the tab and nearly jumped at the popping noise it made. Sara notice his pupils narrowed into thinner slits at the sound. A blue-ish purple blush creeped up the Angaras neck and Sara dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“S-sorry.” Sara tried to tame her laughter. “I forgot to tell you it makes a noise.” Jaal jumped again when he attempted to drink it and it fizzed in his mouth. He almost spat it out. “And that it feels weird in your mouth.”

“Human drinks are a bit terrifying.”

“It’s soda, a fizzy drink that’s mostly sugar and carbonated water. Most humans love the feeling of the carbonation bubbling in our throats.” Sara opened her own can and took a sip. “They come in a variety of flavors like fruit and candy but I got regular dark cola for your first time.”

Jaal took another hesitant sip. “They are not intoxicants?”

“Nope. Just a regular sugary snack drink. Like a carbonated juice.”

“Liam attempted to get me to eat one of your fruit candies earlier. I believe Angara might be allergic to them. It creates an unpleasant burn.”

Sara shot him a puzzled look. “Are you sure he didn’t give you spicy candy? Like red hots?”

“The capsaicin in your ‘spicy’ foods does nothing for us, it seems. We are immune.”

Sara can’t help but wondering what in Angaran biology makes them immune to hot food and feels a bit disappointed that Jaal can’t feel the burn of spicy foods. She had planned to trick him into eating red hots later. “That’s weird. I wonder if a compound in your saliva renders the capsaicin inert.”

Jaal shrugged. “A question for Lexi, perhaps.”

“If I can get her to share anything. I tried to ask her how Angaran bioelectricity worked and she said it would violate doctor-patient confidentiality if she told me.” Sara huffed.

“I cannot tell you how it works but I can tell you what we use it for.”

Sara looked up at him with expectant eyes, not trying to hide her curiosity. Jaal laughed at this. He found her endless curiosity endearing. He could not fault her for wanting to know more about him, considering he had bombarded her with endless questions since beginning their informative exchange. He had asked more questions than he had answered.

“Angara use our bioelectricity as short-range communication. We can communicate emotions with the pattern and intensity of the pulses. They also aid in healing.” Jaal focuses his electricity into his hand, causing little sparks to dance between his fingers. Sara is enraptured in this and her mouth makes an adorable O shape that Jaal has come to associate with surprise and fascination. “We can also use them as weapons, the Angaran Firaan is designed to channel the electricity and emit it in violent pulses when we attack, stunning the enemy.”

“That’s amazing Jaal!” Sara grasps his wrist, pulling him closer to study the electricity he had gathered there, almost interrupting his focus. Jaal had noticed Sara was freer with touch than other humans. Often when questioning him about specific parts of Angaran anatomy she would touch him. She had asked him once about his ‘neck flaps’ while smoothing her hands over them curiously. “I wonder if I could modify a Firaan with an existing electrical source, or make it interfaceable with my biotics.”

“I suppose that would be possible.” Jaal diminished the electricity flowing through his hand until the sparks disappeared, much to Sara’s disappointment, judging from the pout Jaal observed on her face. “Your biotics seem to be akin to our bioelectricity. It seems mostly useful as a weapon, however. Can you not communicate with it?”

Sara formed a small mass effect field in her hand. “It’s only used as a weapon.” She used pull on a can of soda, bringing it from the crate on the floor into her hand. “Or a really convenient way to pick things up without having to walk.”

“Ah, we cannot do that with our electricity.”

Sara reached over tentatively and grasped Jaal’s hand in hers. Her touch was gentle as she looked over his hand, studying it. Angaran hands were much bigger than a human’s. His were even bigger than Sara’s, who had small and delicate hands, fit for crafting with fine detail. Sara had told him once that she was a scientist. And archaeologist, in the milky way, though she also dabbled in tech and some biology. Her expertise was in ancient civilizations and cultures. She would dig up old alien tech and tinker with it, taking it apart and putting it back together. They both shared this fascination. This yearning for knowledge.

The human moved his hand to her shoulder. It covered most of her upper arm. “Say something.” She demanded.

“Pardon?” Jaal looked at her face for any sign of context as to what she was asking him to do.

“With your bioelectricity. I want to know how it works. I want to know what you’re feeling.”

Jaal hummed. What was he feeling? He was feeling a variety of things that he didn’t know he could communicate to Sara. He was fascinated by her. Curious. Beyond this he felt familiar with her. A warmth that had begun to grow between the two of them before she had shared cookies with him in the tech lab. Perhaps around when she wept with him on Voeld? Held him close and felt his pain. When she turned with a fierceness he did not know she possessed and stared the Cardinal down.

“I’m going to fuck. Your. Shit. Up.” She had growled in the face of the enemy. After securing the rescue of his people, trapped and scared, instead of blowing the facility up as the Moshae had asked, she whirled around and shot the Cardinal between the head plate. When she spat on the Cardinal’s corpse and cursed their entire race. He had seen the warrior behind the scientist that day. He had seen the fury and hatred. She had been sorrowful and enraged by the treatment of his people. She swore to him that day they would get revenge. She swore she would try her best to wipe the Kett from the cluster. Not just for her people, but for his, who had suffered longer and deeper than hers could claim.

Perhaps that was when Jaal Ama Daraav became fond of Sara Ryder.

Jaal communicated this complex cocktail of emotions to Sara. He sent his emotions as electricity through his body and into Sara’s. He couldn’t tell if Sara could decipher everything he was attempting to share with her, but the look on her face indicating she understood to an extent. She smiled warmly at him. They smiled warmly at each other.

With prolonged contact, however, Sara’s hair began to float. It stood on end on her arms and stood upright on her head. Jaal could not fight back the booming laughter, earning more swats from Sara, whose face was flushed red.  The moment was gone but it still lingered in Jaal’s mind.

This was the day Jaal Ama Daraav realized he had become a bit more than fond of Sara Ryder.


	4. Anatomy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Jaal share an appreciation for hygiene and a hatred for Kadara and it's stinky sulfur pits.

Kadara was a sweltering hellhole on its best days. Not because of the sun or the atmosphere. Because of the sulfur springs. The planet would be pleasant if not for the damn sulfur springs. Kadara’s temperature was usually around 29 degrees Celsius or 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Back on earth that would have been a pleasant spring day. On Kadara, in full body armor, it’s hot and stinks like rotten eggs.

After activating the Kadara vaults, the acidity of the water had gone down some, but the smell still lingered and the lakes were still occasionally on fire. It wouldn’t be a hit tourist destination by any means until they activated Meridian, wherever and whatever it was, and got the viability back up.

As with Havarl and Voeld, it seemed Ryder was going to be stuck on Kadara until the more pressing matters were attended to. This meant several more days of hot sulfur pits and the smell of eggs clinging to her armor, guns, hair, and skin. It also meant taking several showers a day to cleanse herself of all of Kadara’s funk.

Sara isn’t the only one on the Tempest that has a dislike for Kadara. But she’s the only one that makes as big of a deal out of the stench. Other than Jaal, who shares her obsession with hygiene and vast hatred of Kadara funk.

Sara turned the shower on, setting most of the water on hot. The cold dial was only turned up a few notches, maintaining the delicate balance between scorching hot and pleasantly hot. Despite her complaining about Kadara’s heat, hot showers were Sara’s favorite. She stood under the spray, letting it hit her back and soothe out the soreness in her shoulders. She sighed. Despite all of the fucked up shit going on in her life since arriving in Andromeda, a hot shower at the end of a shitty day still made the experience worth it.

The bathroom door hissed open. One of her crewmates was also weary for the day, it seemed. Though the showers were communal and could fit up to two people at a time, Sara was still embarrassed when one of the crew joined her in the showers. Luckily so far, the only crew members to shower with her had been Peebee and Cora. She had caught Liam on his way out once, though his shirtless state wasn’t any different than his usual. Cora liked to comment on Ryder’s fit form when they shower, embarrassing her to no end. It apparently isn’t uncommon for Huntresses to complement each other’s muscles and scars. Either that or Cora’s hitting on her. Either way, showers with Cora always leave Sara flattered but red in the face with embarrassment.

Peebee _does_ hit on Sara in the shower. She does it jokingly but Sara can only handle so many sexual comments before she runs out of blood that can even go to her face. The Asari shoots her sultry glances, winks and wiggling eyebrows, or at least an attempt at wiggling eyebrows that aren’t there. Peebee had once painted them on herself for the sole purpose of comically flirting with the entire Tempest crew. Jaal did not understand.

The spray of cold water from the shower next to her woke Sara from her thoughts. She jumped back and screamed, nearly falling. She heard Jaal’s booming laughter before she saw him. Standing there. Naked. And wet. Wet and naked.

“I didn’t mean to scare you Sara, I forget how sensitive human skin is to cold.” The smile on his face was so innocent, despite them both being naked. And wet. In the shower. Together. “Angara prefer to bathe in lukewarm to chilled water, especially after spending a day in the wretched heat. You’ve no idea how I suffer on Kadara.”

Sara tried to relax. It’s not the first time she’d seen Jaal naked. She had walked into Liam’s room to see the two exchanging armor. Liam shirtless and Jaal in all his pink alien naked glory. It makes it a bit more tolerable knowing that Angaran sex organs were internal, or at least appeared to be considering Sara didn’t see any external genitalia when her eyes flicked downwards despite her bidding them not to.

“Is this for my benefit?” Sara had asked, leaning against the door frame of Liam’s room, eyes focused on Jaal specifically, though he didn’t seem to notice. “Because I’m benefitting.” The words had left her mouth before she could stop them. Liam teased her about it later that day. Thankfully, Jaal did not notice her attentions or that she was flirting with him.

“Believe me Jaal, I’m suffering right there with you.” She attempted to draw her attention away from her embarrassment at both seeing Jaal undress and him seeing her undressed with humor. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the smell of sulfur out of my hair.”

Jaal hummed, as he usually did when he agreed with her. “Angara do not have hair, but it clings to my skin and I’ll need to wash my rofjin thoroughly.”

Sara laughed, reaching for her shampoo, and angling herself away from the cold spray of Jaal’s shower. Jaal studied her as she lathered it in her hair.

“What is the purpose of that soap?”

“It cleans our hair, makes it stronger and smells good.” Every moment around Jaal was riddled with questions. Sara stared at Jaal as he massaged a floral-smelling salve into his ‘neck flaps.’ “What is that for?”

“It keeps my cowl glossy.” He sent her wry smile. “And it smells nice.”

Sara hummed in agreement. “It does. You always smell nice. Where do you get your soaps? Is there a shop on Aya?” It was becoming easier to make conversation with him. Just treat this like any other interaction with Jaal.

Her question made Jaal’s chest swell with pride. “Thank you, I take pride in my hygiene. I like to smell nice. And I make the soaps and salves myself.” At the surprised look Sara sent him he faltered. “Is mixing soaps and lotions that different from making bombs?”

“Um, kind of? I don’t know. I guess it’s not really.”

“Do you want to use some? I’m not sure how it will interact with your skin, however.”

Sara flushed. “S-sure.” She could somehow accept the soap without looking at him, right? What if he watches her apply it? Is nudity not a sexual thing in Angaran culture? It must not be for how he walked out of Liam’s room, back to the tech lab completely nude. Sara was the only one making it weird. It’s not weird to Jaal so it shouldn’t be to her.

Jaal hissed when his hand came into contact with the hot water from Sara’s side. He dropped the soap, almost spilling it if Sara hadn’t caught it reflexively with her biotics. “Do all humans bathe in scorching water?”

Sara laughed. “Not everyone. I just like hot showers. Some humans take cold showers after long days of work and such. But most of us prefer warm to hot showers and baths.”

“Liam said that you were probably going to take a cold shower after walking in on our armor exchange.” Sara paled. She was going to have to have a chat with Liam. “What did he mean by this?”

“Well, um. Liam was making a very inappropriate joke.” Jaal cocked his head to the side, indicating confusion. “Humans, um, often take cold showers to cool down after experiencing…sexual attraction. The, um, cold water distracts from the…arousal.”

“Ah, Liam was suggesting you were sexually aroused by our state of undress.”

This was worse than Cora. Bring back Cora. Sara would even welcome Peebee at this point. She did not want to explain sex jokes to a very naked Angara. In the shower. Naked. And wet. Nope. Time out. Don’t go there. Abort.

“He was. He likes to tell inappropriate jokes that he knows you won’t get.”

“I have noticed. Angara have people who are not funny as well.”

Sara snorted, the joke caught her by surprise. “People who are not funny seem to be a universal occurrence.”

Their shower continued in a pleasant silence after that. Sara tried the soap Jaal had lent her on a patch of skin before lathering it on her body. She didn’t check to see if Jaal was watching her. He probably was. For totally non-sexual reasons. He was probably just curious. Human bodies are definitely strange compared to Angara. He didn’t question her until she had turned to face away from the shower spray to rise her hair again.

“Sara?” Jaal’s voice was extremely concerned. “There is a hole in your abdomen. Is it a scar? A wound?”

Sara couldn’t stop the snorting laughter that erupted from her. “No Jaal, that’s a belly button. Its left over from where human babies have umbilical cords in the womb.”

“What purpose do they serve?” He was staring intently at her navel now.

“Umbilical cords deliver nutrients and stuff to the babies. They fall off eventually when we are born.” To satisfy his curiosity, Sara steps out of the hot water to allow Jaal to inspect her stomach. He runs a finger over it, startling when he notices her piercing. “Oh, some humans pierce theirs for decoration. Like my ears, or your…whatever that is.”

“Fascinating.” Now that he is closer, he begins to inspect other parts of her body. Sara flushes, but allows his eyes to roam. “You have others?” He brushes her wet hair behind her ears, inspecting the piercings there. He runs a finger over the three piercings at the top of her ear. “They _are_ like mine.”

His hand trails down her face to her neck, to her tattoo. “And these markings? Do they mean something?”

Sara shivered at his touches. Angara have _no_ concept of personal space. “I just thought it looked cool. It’s a tattoo, like my eyes, ink is injected under the top layers of skin and just stays there. It’s cosmetic, though some people get symbols that mean things. The names of dead loved ones, religious symbols. Signs of status.”

“Some Angara have marked faces for the same reasons.”

“Angara and Humans aren’t so different, in some respects.”

Jaal looked into Sara’s eyes and her heart pounded. His hand still caressed her neck. “No. I suppose we are not so different.” His gaze returned downward. “Though there are some parts of the human body I do not understand.” His hands traveled down Sara’s chest, lingering on her breasts. Sara froze. “Human females seem to have larger chests than males, and they are much softer. They do not, however, seem to serve a purpose.” He paused, leaning in to look closer at them. “Ah, you have more piercings here too.”

Sara opened her mouth to tell him to back off, her face turning a bright red. Jaal ran a thumb along her nipple, studying her piercings curiously. His face fell when Sara let out a loud moan. He dropped his hands quickly and almost tripped backwards trying to get away. Sara clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Ah, I see.” Jaal fumbled. “Erogenous zone.” A blue flush flooded his face. “M-my apologies, pathfinder.”

“I-it’s fine.” Sara tried to speak between her fingers. Jaal now noticed how red her face was. He hadn’t detected how tense her body was beforehand. He cursed himself internally for his curiosity. “You, uh, didn’t know.”

Jaal felt unwelcome arousal pool in him from the sight of her now. The flush of her face. The way she leaned on the shower wall for balance, as if his touch made her legs weak. The look of desire in her eyes. No. He had to turn away. He began to gather his soaps and lotions, shutting off the water. Jaal had only lingered so long because of his curiosity and now his curiosity had created a very awkward situation. If he didn’t leave soon, Sara was going to learn more about Angaran Anatomy than she likely cared to know.

As he was leaving the showers when Sara lay a gentle hand on his arm. “Hey.” She avoided his eyes for a moment before looking up at him with sincerity. “Don’t feel bad about it, ok? Just some awkward cultural misunderstanding.” She worried her lower lip with her teeth. She was worried he was uncomfortable. Jaal cursed. If anyone had a right to be uncomfortable it was her.

“Yes, forgive me.” He sent a comforting electrical pulse to her. “I will speak to you later, Sara.”

She gave him a warm smile, flush still lingering on her cheeks. “Stay strong, and clear, Jaal”

She warmed his heart with her smile. Sara Ryder seemed in that moment to be the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Jaal noticed with a start that he was _definitely_ more than fond of Sara Ryder. But this wasn’t the right place not time for a confession. No. When Jaal confesses his feelings for Sara, he will do it right.

“Isharay, Sara Ryder.” And he leaves, grabbing a towel on his way out and wrapping it around his waist.

Sara sighs when he leaves, disappointed but relieved. She froze when he touched her. She could have interrupted him. She could have moved his hands away. But she didn’t. She liked it when he touched her. She liked the way he studied her body with curiosity and the look on his face when he touched her. His last parting glance at her while leaving, as if he was seeing her really there for the first time. His eyes mirror her curiosity and desire. Oh god.

Sara Ryder realizes she has a thing for Jaal Ama Darav.

She turns off the hot water and takes her first cold shower.


	5. Intoxicating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaal ponders Sara's avoidance of him. Sara downs a Tavum-Ryncol cocktail and instantly regrets it.

Sara does not visit Jaal for a while. Jaal begins to worry that he had ruined their relationship with his curiosity. After he fled the showers, hiding his emerging erection, Sara had not stopped by to talk in some time. And Jaal had not attempted to contact her out of fear it would push her even further away. So, he kept his mind busy.

Cleaning his guns kept his busy for approximately one day. He then kept himself busy by sewing. He made a few new blankets and pillows before he grew bored of that. Sara wasn’t taking him on ground missions anymore. She _always_ took him on ground missions. He had questioned Liam about it once out of worry.

“You’re always complaining about how much you hate Kadara, maybe she’s trying to spare you.”

The argument was weak. Jaal wanted to believe it but he just couldn’t. If this was true then why was she avoiding him? Why had she not stopped by for so long? She would usually visit him at least once a day for a few minutes before. Why stop now?

“Dude, the pathfinder gets busy.” Liam consoled him while they both worked on modifying their guns. “She’s been busting her ass trying to get an outpost set up on Kadara. Sloane isn’t making it any easier on her either, the way they look at each other I’ll be surprised is they don’t try to kill each other in the fucking throne room one day.”

Jaal had noticed Sara’s dislike of Sloane Kelly. She had once described Sloane as a person who is ‘full of her own shit,’ and ‘a grade-A mega-bitch.’ She might have also mentioned she wanted to ‘rip that smug ass fucking smile off her face and shove it up her ass,’ which is something Jaal understood to be anatomically impossible.

“Besides.” Liam snapped Jaal out of his own thoughts. “She didn’t take anyone with her today.”

“That is because she is attending Sloane’s party with Reyes Vidal.” Jaal did not like Reyes. There is a reason he was called _Shena_ in the resistance. ‘The mouth, ‘it meant. His code name alluded to his silver-tongue. Reyes Vidal spoke and sugar dripped from his lips. He was charismatic, yes, but also manipulative. Jaal did not trust him. Reyes also tended to flirt with the pathfinder. He greets her with kisses to her raised hand. His eyes staring into hers with mischief and desire. When he joked with Sara she laughed, her eyes conveying that she found him to be charming. This was another reason Jaal did not like him.

The first-time Reyes had exchanged sweet words with Sara while Jaal was around his bioelectricity spiked to the point of Sara noticing. She had bumped his arm discreetly, the fine hairs raising with proximity to his skin. Sometimes Reyes would shoot Jaal knowing looks. His eyes said, ‘ _I know how you feel about her; I do this because I know._ ’

If Reyes Vidal had invited Sara to this party with him, he was using her as a distraction. He was using her to gather intel on Sloane, likely, but did Sara know this? Did Sara know that Vidal was using her? She had never flirted back, and always pulled her hand away when Reyes touched her. _She never pulls away from you, she never hides her emotions from you. She didn’t pull away when you touched her._ He tries to quiet his mind, tries to keep it from drifting back to Sara’s eyes fixed on his with desire burning behind them. He tries to will away the feeling of her breast against his palm.

So soft.

Humans are so impossibly soft.

Jaal sees Sara take hits from Kett, Roekar and exiles daily. He sees her slip out of her tactical cloak and jab a firaan into the neck of her adversary. He sees her leap into the air and bring her omni blade into the ground, shattering it and knocking down enemies. He had seen her wrestle a Wraith to the ground and rip it apart with her bare hands. With her rifle, he had seen her take out 2 exiles with one blow, quickly lining up another shot before their comrades had even noticed the crack. With her biotics, he had seen her toss an entire squad of Kett into the air and play with them as a child would a toy, before ramming them all headfirst into the ground.

Sara Ryder is a warrior on the battlefield. She is strong and agile, fast, and stealthy. She reads her opponents like open books.

And yet she is so soft.

Not just her body, but Sara, as a person, is soft.

She is freer with her emotions than he had ever seen a human, and yet towards others she can be hard and cold. She touches him gently, sharing her space with him, her attention. She jealously hordes her foods from home. She takes comfort in the familiar taste of a home that is 600 years away with no way back. And yet she shares them freely with Jaal. She delights in showing him candies and snacks from her world. Even if he does not appreciate them the same as she does, she is happy to share.

She had been hoarding ingredients for an earth food called _cake_ in preparation for his birthday. She said that when a human has a birthday, they get a cake with candles on top displaying the number of years they’ve been alive. Sara vowed to make him the _best_ birthday cake in the universe for his birthday. She said that she had a recipe from her grandparents that she knew he would like. Her joy was infectious. Jaal found himself looking forward to his birthday, counting down the days.

He should make her something. A gift. A peace offering? He wasn’t sure if she was upset with him. Or perhaps she thought he was upset with her. A gift would be lovely. She had already made something for him. Modifying her gun was not an option. She was protective of her Black Widow rifle and didn’t let anyone touch it. She had shown it to him once. Let him hold it. But she kept a watchful gaze on him the entire time. She had offered to build one for him but he had declined. His rifle was the best in the resistance and he had grown attached to it.

Perhaps he could sew her something? He had caught her staring at his rofjinn several times. He wasn’t sure if that meant that she had wanted to wear it or not. Liam was always asking if he could wear his ‘cool flappy poncho thing.’ No matter how many times Jaal growled at him, the human just kept asking.

“He’s a spoiled brat.” Ryder had chuckled at the scene. “Just ignore him until he stops. If you acknowledge him he’ll just get worse. He loves to aggravate you.”

“And you don’t?”

The mischief in her eyes made his heart sing. “You love it when I aggravate you.”

He couldn’t say anything. Because it was true. Whether the pathfinder knew his feelings for her or not.

“SAM.” Jaal called out, knowing the AI would be listening, even if he was with the pathfinder.

“ _Good evening, Jaal.”_ The synthetic voice came immediately over the comms.

“What gifts do human women prefer?”

The AI was silent for a moment. “ _You are asking what Sara would prefer as a gift, are you not?”_

_Skutt._

SAM had been slowly becoming more proficient at social interaction and assuming intentions. “Yes, SAM, what kind of things does Sara like to receive as a gift?”

_“I estimate that an accurate prediction of what Sara would appreciate would be to ask her yourself, Jaal.”_

Jaal sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Sara would never tell me. Humans are stubborn with their dislike for openness.”

_“There is a 97% chance that Sara, in her current state, would answer you truthfully.”_

Current state? “What do you mean, current state?”

“ _Sara has recently consumed a mixture of Angaran Tavum and Krogan Ryncol, against my suggestions. She is also currently accepting a drink from Reyes Vidal.”_

Jaal has heard Drack talk about Ryncol, and about how humans can never handle the intoxicant without becoming ‘shit-faced’ drunk.

 _“She isn’t doing anything reckless.”_ The AI paused. _“Other than drinking.”_

“Insure that she doesn’t, SAM.” Jaal worried about her when she went _anywhere_ with Reyes.

Jaal decided that he was going to make her a Rofjinn. And prepare some salty snacks for her, and plenty of water. She had given him some human snack foods called chips. They were high in sodium and a bit too much for Jaal. He liked the ones called _Cheetos_. They were Sara’s favorite. He pulled out a bag and set it on the counter along with several bottles of water. He told SAM to notify him when she was on her way back. If Ryncol was anything like how Drack described, Sara was going to need _plenty_ of water.

_“The Pathfinder in on approach with the aid of Reyes Vidal.”_

Jaal strode out of the techlab and to the airlock to meet Sara and Reyes. If that man had laid one finger on her. Jaal exited the ship, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest as he spotted the two approaching. Reyes gave him a half-wave with his free hand, the other supporting a _very_ drunk Sara. To say that Jaal was not impressed was an understatement. He glared at Reyes in a way that Efvra would have been proud of.

Reyes attempted a bow. “Here is your precious _princess_ , Lord Jaal Ama Darav.” Sara attempted to walk but ended up stumbling into Jaals chest. He caught her before she could fall.

“Hey Jaal.” She slurred into his Rofjinn.

He sighed, softening his gaze. “You two had fun at the party, it seems.”

Reyes winked. “You wouldn’t be able to tell, as small as she is, but our Sara can put back _quite_ a few drinks.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have offered her more after she had already had, what was it called, SAM?”

_“A mixture of Tavum and Ryncol. Ryncol alone would have incapacitated an average human. I tried my best to purge most of it but only delayed the inevitable.”_

Sara groaned into Jaal’s chest. “You’re a tattle-tale, SAM.”

“From the vomiting she did on the way here I suppose you’re right.” Reyes laid a hand on his shoulder. “Tried to get her to keep something down, and keep her hydrated. When she sleeps tonight make sure she stays on her side. If she needs to vomit again rubbing her back and holding her hair back for her would be comforting as well.”

When Jaal didn’t answer but with a glare, Reyes began to back off. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it, then.”

Sara mumbled something that sounded like ‘bye-bye Reyes’ into his chest. As the human disappeared in the distance Jaal lifted Sara into his arms. She gave a bit of protest but her flailing was weak. He stepped inside the Tempest with ‘ _precious princess’_ cradled in his arms and headed back to the tech lab where he planned to keep an eye on her so that she didn’t do anything foolish.

“I can walk.” She grumbled into his neck. She wreaked of alcohol. “m’ not a princess. M’ a warrior.”

Jaal laughed softly. “I know you are a warrior Sara, but you’re a drunk warrior.”

She scoffed at him indignantly. “could still kick your ass.”

Jaal smiled, setting her down on his makeshift bed. The curve kept her sitting up, supporting her back. “Do you want some water?”

She sat up weakly, unwinding her scarf and tossing off her jacket. “Yes please.” She kicked her shoes and socks across the room. “It’s hot.”

Jaal hummed, getting her a bottle of water. Tavum tended to make one warm. He placed a hand on the back of her head and tilted the bottle forward, unsure if she could drink it by herself. After a few gulps she swatted him away with her hand, curling up on her side.

“Never drinking Ryncol again.” She groaned, burying her face in one of his many pillows. “I don’t care what it’s mixed with.”

Jaal sat on the ground next to her, running his fingers through her hair. He knew she found that comforting. “Did you have fun, at least?”

Her head shifted, one of her red eyes peeking out between the pillows and her silver hair. “I think I sat in Sloane’s chair.” She blew a strand out of her face. “And I don’t remember but I think she kicked my ass.”

_“She had Kaetus remove you, Pathfinder.”_

Sara winced. “Not so loud SAM. My head is killing me.”

_“Attempting to lessen the pain, Pathfinder.”_

Sara wrapped her arms around one of the pillows, snuggling into it. “Your bed is soft, Jaal.”

“I _did_ bring a lot of pillows.”

Sara giggled. He loves it when she giggles. “And blankets. Soft pillows and blankets.”

He edged closer to Sara, who hummed in approval. “I could make some for you, if you’d like.”

“Just let me sleep here from now on.”

He laughed, ruffling the pathfinder’s hair. “Where would I sleep?”

“With me, duh.” She snorted, her tone suggesting it was the most obvious answer. When a blush spread up his neck she lost herself to loud, booming laughter. “I love embarrassing you. Your face gets all plurble.” She rolled over onto her back, lifting a hand to trail across Jaal’s face. “I missed this.”

Jaal’s heart fluttered. He reached up to caress her hand with his. “Sara…” His voice cracked, and he wet his lips. “Why have you not come to me in the past few days?”

Red bloomed on her cheeks and splotched on her neck. She looked good in red. Her Jacket, her lips, her eyes. “I made it weird.”

“What did you make weird, Sara?”

She covered her face with her hands. “In the shower. You were curious. I made it weird.” Sara groaned and rolled over, curling into a ball. “I should have told you not to touch me. That humans are…sensitive there. I saw what you were doing and I made it weird.”

“In what way was my curiosity your fault?”

She mumbled something he couldn’t make out and curled further in on herself. Was she embarrassed by her body’s reaction to him touching her? Embarrassed that she startled him with her arousal? Jaal ran because he was afraid he had offended her. Well, that and one other rising reason.

He sighed, resuming his attentions to her hair. “Sara, you didn’t startle me, or offend me or make anything _weird._ ”

“I didn’t?” She whimpered.

“No, Sara. What happened was your body’s natural reaction to my _intrusion_ of your space.” He chuckled. “Besides, you cannot help but to be attracted to the most handsome man in the Resistance.”

This earned him a laugh. And a pillow to the face. Several times. “Right.” Sara sat up straight, giving him a playful punch in the arm. “I’ll tell Efvra that the next time we’re docked on Aya. He seems to fancy himself the most handsome man in the Resistance.”

He scoffed, feigning offence. “Efvra isn’t even charming in the eyes of his mothers.”

Sara laughed with him. She joined him on the ground, snuggling into his side and leaning her head against his shoulder. “I think you could charm the pants off Reyes is you tried.”

“Sara Ryder.” Jaal hummed fondly. “Are you implying you find me to be charming.”

She met his eyes under strands of tousled hair. “Maybe I am.” She adjusted herself to where her head lay in his lap, her eyes staring up at him, cloudy with the pleasant buzz of alcohol but aware enough. SAM seemed to be making some progress. “When we were last on Aya I heard some women talking about how they found you attractive, but oblivious.” She laughed at the embarrassed look on his face. “They say they ought to put you on the recruitment posters for the Resistance. I agree, I’m surprised you aren’t with someone.” She paused then, smile falling from her face. “You aren’t, are you? With someone?”

Jaal sighed. “Not for some time, no. I was in love with a woman once.  Her name was Allia. We were-I was young. It was my first versal on Aya. We both worked on the same farm. She was a researcher. I can still hear her laugh, and see her eyes.” He stared off wistfully. “She kissed me, I was hers, thrilled and seduced.

“She sounds amazing.” Jaal could have sworn her voice sounded disappointed.

“She was. Until she met my brother…He came to Aya, he was already famous in the resistance. She came back to Havarl and joined our family, she became one of the mothers.”

“Ouch.” Sara shifted in his lap, laying a hand on his shoulder. Or at least attempting to. She missed and accidentally hit his face softly with her outstretched hand. She settled with patting him on his leg. “So, do you, like, see her around the house now?”

His fingers worked themselves through her curls, working out the tangles. “They were taken, by the Kett.”

“Shit, Jaal, I’m sorry.”

He smiled sadly at her. “We have both felt pain. Loss. Their children survived, they are still with us.”

A silence passed before he spoke again. “And you, Sara?” She looked up at him with questioning eyes, an eyebrow raised. “Do you have someone? Here? Or left in the Milky Way.”

She sighed, thumb rubbing circles on his thigh. “No. I’ve never really been with anyone before.” She laughed when she caught the surprised look on Jaal’s face. “What? It’s not that hard to imagine is it?”

“To me, it is hard to imagine you not having at least one love in your life.”

Sara hummed. “I’ve had offers. I had a play date with this cute Turian kid back on the Nexus when I was a kid. She was adorable. I don’t remember her name, but we made a vow between children that we would get married and have little Turian-Human babies together.”

Jaal’s laughter shook her. “Did you ever see her again?”

“No, her family moved back to Palaven shortly after. She gave me a parting gift, a few pieces of graxen, Turian popcorn, I was in the hospital for a few days and my mother was furious.”

“Perhaps your Turian temptress made her way to Andromeda, Sara.”

Sara laughed. “Maybe.”

“And no one has captured your heart since coming to Andromeda? Not even Reyes Vidal?” That earned him another swat with the pillow.

“He tries. But I’m immune to his charms. He’s not my type.” A smile played at the Human Pathfinder’s lips. “He tries too hard. Keeps too many secrets. He’s a decent man, Jaal. A good friend. But I need something sincere. Something open.”

“Ah, and here Cora was telling me you liked bad boys.” Another pillow to the face. But Sara was laughing. It’s worth it to hear Sara laugh.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to talk to Cora.” She shifted in his lap, sitting up with some difficulty, to face Jaal. Carefully, she took his hands in her own. “Jaal, I, um.” She coughed awkwardly. “I think you are great, and amazing and I would like to get to know you better. What do you think?”

Jaal was taken aback for a moment. Then he warmed, squeezing the pathfinder’s hands. “Yes, I’d like that.”

Her face was red again. “T-that’s it?”

Jaal laughed, bringing one of her hands to his lips and planting a gentle kiss. “You are a lovely woman, a brilliant risk-taker, and, might I add, a stunning warrior. Getting to know you better would be a gift, sincerely.”

“Great!” Sara squeaked, attempting to hide her face in her hands. She didn’t know what to do with the flattery. From Reyes, she always waved it off as him trying to lay the moves on her. With Jaal, she knew he was sincere. She knew he meant it.

_“Pathfinder, I have managed to lessen the adverse side effects of the alcohol in your system. So long as you drink more water, the effects in the morning will not be as severe.”_

“T-thanks, SAM.” She attempted to stand up, nearly falling on top of Jaal in the process. Jaal attempted to assist her but she pushed his hands away. “I’m good. I can walk.” She stumbled. “I think.”

Jaal scooped her in his arms again. “Let me carry you to your room, dearest. You’ll hurt yourself walking in this state.” _Dearest._ Sara buried her face in Jaal’s Rofjinn. Her hands gripped the fabric. She couldn’t handle his gentle attention, his affection. Jaal carried her through to the cargo bay, past the entire crew, to her quarters. She couldn’t look any of them in the eyes but she heard Liam whistle and murmur something that resembled ‘about time.’

“I could have taken the ladder down.” She groaned. His laugh vibrated her entire body and rumbled in his chest. Sara felt a spark of bioelectricity travel through her body, warming her to the bones. His affection was overwhelming, dizzying. Or maybe that was the Ryncol-Tavum cocktail. Maybe both. Probably both.

Jaal laid her gently on her bed, his hands lingering on her skin. She kicked off her pants and crawled under the sheets. Sara patted the spot next to her as a way of inviting Jaal to climb in with her.

“Are you sure?

Sara blew a raspberry. “We’ve fallen asleep together before, as friends.”

That is true. They had fallen asleep in Sara’s room before. One of their long nights of cultural exchanges. They had woken up together in a tangle of alien limbs and a sense of confusion. That was also the night Sara had forced him to watch old human movies. She had downloaded a large library of movies from the Milky Way with their last stop to the Nexus. When she was scrolling through them during one of their conversations she nearly tackled him with excitement.

“They have Princess Diaries, Jaal! We _have_ to watch it!”

And so, they had. Both of them. And then that sent them on a downward spiral of old cartoon movies about princesses. In which Sara knew every. Single. Word. To every. Single. Song. They had fallen asleep somewhere between ‘The little Mermaid’ and ‘The Princess Frog.” Jaal was frightened.

He sighed, unbuckling his Rofjinn and folding it carefully. He set it down on her bedside table.

“You’re gonna sleep with your under armor on?”

“Angara do not have ‘py-jam-ahs.’”

The red returned to her face. “Ah. I see.” She rolled over on her side, facing away from him. “Continue.”

His dearest is adorable. He laid his eyepiece down with his Rofjinn and lifted the sheets to climb in with Sara. Jaal had to adjust the pillows to suit his physiology but her bed was quite comfortable. The lights clicked off and the only thing illuminating them both was the Kadara moon.

The sheets rustled as Sara moved closer to him, her back against his chest. When he moved to wrap his arms around her she hummed in approval. She smelled of him, he noticed. She was likely still using the soap he had lent her. Jaal buried his face in Sara’s soft hair, and drifted to sleep, Sara not far behind him. 


	6. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara has nightmares as the time to take on the Archon approaches. Jaal asks for Sara's help in a personal family matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sara experiences a panic attack during this chapter. If reading about panic attacks can cause you to have one, or be really uncomfortable, I suggest skipping the first few paragraphs and a few lines of dialogue. CNTRL+F to Elaaden and you should be safe.

Sara dreaded going after the Archon. She had accomplished many things as Pathfinder. She had braved near impossible odds. She had even taken down her fair share of Remnant Architects, which are the most terrifying bots she had ever seen in her life, while also being the most fascinating. But she _dreaded_ boarding the Archon’s ship.

She had nightmares about it. About stepping aboard and making her way to the Archon’s chambers. Being one step away from Meridian, whatever it looked like, it changed all the time in Sara’s dreams, It had once been an ice cream sundae; and then, as soon as she starts to reach for Meridian, she is captured by the Archon. In her nightmares she watches as all her crewmates are suspended by the Archon, sometimes dead Invictors, the Cardinal or Primus, still riddled with holes and oozing green blood from where Sara had dealt the final blow.

Sara would be forced to watch as each of them were exalted. She watched the black tar, the Kett _filth_ take over their bodies, one by one. She would watch their skin turn dark, distorting and becoming bone. She’d watch their cold, white, monstrous eyes open. They’d drop to the floor and bow to the Archon, who was always behind her. She could never see him. He would walk just out of her sight, sometimes on the peripheral, taunting her. He would lay out all of her insecurities and rip her apart from the inside. Jaal was always the last to be exalted. His eyes would plead with hers. He’d beg for death instead. He’d be crying and struggling. He’d reach for her, calling out her name as the transformation slowly took him over. And then he’d be gone. There would be a Kett in his place. Staring at her with those dead eyes and sneering.

It was the hardest part of the dream to experience.

Once the last of her friends had been exalted, she would finally see the Archon. He would bring the Kett that _was_ Jaal forward and have him lift her up. The Archon would hand Jaal the syringes of Kett DNA. Then Jaal would stab her. She would fall to the floor, writhing. Kett Jaal would soothe her as the transformation begun. His voice would still be the same, speaking the Archon’s praises. She’d reach for him, reach for Jaal, hoping to save him, and herself. Then her vision would blur. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak.

And then she would wake up. Safe, in her cabin. Sweat soaking through her tank the sheets. Her heart thumping wildly in her chest and choking for air. Jaal had been present for this once. She woke him screaming, gasping for air and clawing at the sheets. He attempted to soothe her, running fingers through her hair and kisses on her skin. SAM tried his best to regulate her heart beat and gradually slow it. Lexi would be notified, rushing into her quarters and staying with her until she calmed down.

“Have you had a panic attack before, Sara?” Lexi asked her, helping Sara sit upright, handing her some water.

Sara brought the water to her lips with shaking hands. She nodded, getting a few breaths into her lungs before speaking. “I-i have Anxiety, OCD, intrusive thoughts and nightmares.” Her voice shook. “I thought I was good. S-SAM usually regulated them. He helped.”

Lexi sighed. “Sara, SAM is wonderful, and he does appear to help some, but I’m prescribing you a 20mg dose of Fluoxetine, have you taken that before?” Sara nodded, still sobbing. “Ok, the next time we’re on the Nexus I’m going to get some for you.” She laid a hand on Sara’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Do not feel bad for this, ok? You’ve been under a lot of stress. Plenty of people have anxiety disorders, Sara, this is normal. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

Sara nodded again, and Lexi left her with Jaal. He held her until her sobbing ceased, until she felt better.

“My dearest, my heart.” He murmured into her hair. “I am here, you are safe.”

So, Sara had procrastinated going to the Archon’s ship. She went to Elaaden and spoke with Morda, recovering the Remnant Drive Core. She helped Drack recover the botanist, Vorn. She stabilized the planet and set up an outpost right next to New Tuchanka. She saved the exiles on the ruined hellscape of what was supposed to be the Turian golden world. Saved Sid, Vetra’s _adorable_ little sister. And she had found the Turian and Asari Arks, and their _new_ pathfinders.

Sara was running out of options.

_“Pathfinder, Jaal wishes to speak to you in the Tech Lab, it’s about Akksul.”_

It had been weeks since Jaal had any updates on Akksul. Since he launched an attack on Prodromos. Sara didn’t want to fight him. He and Jaal used to be friends, students under the Moshae. Jaal assures her that there is no saving him, no convincing him to lay down his arms and fight alongside them. He refuses to join the Resistance, and Sara isn’t sure Evfra would even take him, after how many Angara the Roekaar had killed, believing them to be alien sympathizers.

Sara rushed to the tech lab, walking in on Jaal in a call. He gave her a pleading look, his eyes full of worry, fear, and anger. When he finished he approached her with shaking steps.

“Are you ok?” She caressed his face, hoping to calm him.

“Three of my brothers and sisters…” He drew in a breath, leaning into her hands, closing his eyes. “Have joined the Roekaar.” Jaal seemed ready to cry, his voice filled with pain. “Akksul has poisoned them with his _hatred_ of aliens.”

“Your mother’s want you to bring them back.” Sara wiped a tear from under his eye with her thumb.

Jaal stepped away from her touch, pacing. He finally settled into leaning against the wall. He often needed to move when he was upset, not unlike Sara. “The Roekaar have set up camp in the Forge.” He growled. “It is considered the birthplace of our civilization. _Akksul_ likely believes that this...” Jaal ground his teeth together in anger. “ _bold move_ will gather more fanatics for his cause.”

Sara approached again, carefully. He had begun to weep again. She gently rubbed circles into his frill until he was able to speak. Jaal grasped her free hand in his, staring into her eyes with sorrow, fear of losing his family. “Sara.” He spoke softly. “Akksul has my family.” Sara gave his hand a squeeze, waiting for him to continue, letting him take his time. “I don’t think I can do this alone.”

“You don’t have to. Just tell me the time and place, Jaal.”

He hummed, touching his forehead to hers. “No hesitation, that’s what I love about you.” He managed a chuckle at seeing how fast Sara’s face reddened. She was so easy to fluster. So expressive.

“I have a contact that has been keeping track of the Roekaar, I will arrange a meeting with her and get us a shuttle.” Jaal smiled at her. “Thank you, Sara.”

 

* * *

 

Sara stared through the scope of her rifle. There were a few Roekaar guards positioned at the entrance to the Forge. She handed the rifle to Jaal, who confirmed the guards were not his siblings. Sara fired, unloading the clip on the 4 guards before they even knew what hit them, all headshots. A quick death. They moved forward.

Akksul was moving people further into the Forge. The Roekaar had taken over the area, ushering people to a remote location. Why? What was Akksul planning to do with the Forge? The birthplace of the Angara. His move would move less people than it was sure to piss off.

Sara and Jaal moved silently through the camp. When they encountered Roekaar, they cloaked and quickly dispatched them. Sara took down two guards with quick stabs. Jaal took down three, his bioelectricity arcing around him and stunning the guards, giving him enough time to jab them all between the shoulders. He quirked a brow at her. The bastard was challenging her.

Sara activated her jump jets, scaling the wall in front of her. As soon as she popped her head above the top, shots rang out her way. Luckily the Roekaar shooting at her and Jaal were terrible shots. They ducked behind cover.

“The intruders have reached the nest!”

“I count two!”

Sara prepared to bolt from under cover, about to activate her cloak, when Jaal grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side.

“Sara, I know those voices!”

“Lathoul! Call for backup.”

Jaal’s face lit up and he skittered to his feet anxiously. “Lathoul!” He rose his hands in surrender. “Wait! Stop!”

One of the Roekaar, the one that was not Lathoul, stood, resting his rifle against his shoulder. “It’s Jaal!” He jumped over the barricade. “Jaal? Is that you?” He ran forward, arms outstretched for a hug. Jaal laughed, then growled and punched him in the face, then laughed again, drawing him in for a hug.

“Baranj. Our mothers’ sent me.”

Jaal’s sister pushed past the others, staring Sara down. “Did our mothers’ send this alien, too?”

Sara sized her up. “Wow, Jaal, you didn’t tell me your sister was a badass.”

The Angara leaned in, scowling at Sara. “I should kill you right now.”

“Tevinnt, please.” Jaal pleaded.

She scoffed at Ryder, turning around, and pushing her brother, Lathoul, out of the way.

Baranj stepped forward. “Why did our mothers’ send you?”

“We’ve lost enough to the Kett. They’re afraid to lose you to this insane cause!”

“Jaal, please.”

Jaal grabbed Sara’s wrist, pulling her forward. “I would like you to meet my….” He paused, trying to find a word for what he and Sara were. “…Friend, Sara. To show you that Akksul is wrong!”

“The Initiative is not here to hurt you. We have a common enemy in the Kett.” She worried her bottom lip, nervous. “Please, let us help you.”

“Who cares?”

“They Angara don’t want anything you have!”

“We don’t need you!”

Tevinnt pushed forward. “Jaal, our mothers want us to live truthfully.”

“It is because I love my mothers that I would die for this cause!”

“Akksul is going to blow this place up!” Lathoul pushed through his other siblings, rushing to Jaal and Sara. “That’s why he sent the researchers away. He has bombs planted in the forge.” He looked at Sara. “From your people.”

Sara paled. “Jaal, if those bombs go off it’ll look like the Initiative did it. That’s his plan, he’s going to frame us.”

Jaal cursed. “We have to disarm them.”

A shot rang out and Lathoul stumbled over. Sara caught him, processing what happened. She looked up to see a smoking pistol in Tevinnt’s hands, shock, and horror on her face. She didn’t mean to do it. She had gotten caught up in her emotions, afraid, angry. Sara could see she did not mean to do what she had done. But she did. She had shot her own brother and the realization of what she had done had hit her. Tevinnt dropped her gun. She stuttered. Backed away. Baranj had the same look of horror on his face. They ran.

“Lathoul!” Jaal scrambled, helping Lathoul in a sitting position.

“No.” Lathoul coughed. “The bombs, you need to stop them. I’m ok, Jaal. I’ll be fine.”

“If he blames those bombs on the Initiative, then this gets bad, Jaal, really, really bad.”

“I hate Akksul.” Lathoul said. “Don’t let him win.”

“We’ll stop him, Lathoul.” Sara assured him. She turned to Jaal and he nodded.

“I am glad you are here.” He said fondly as they ran.

Just up ahead, past the barricade, there was a clearing. Through her scope, she saw several Roekaar. She cracked off a clip, four shots, four Roekaar. Then she cloaked, making her way to the location of the first bomb. Jaal cloaked, making his way to the others. She deactivated the bomb, her cloak ticking and then coming down. Sara jumped behind the crate, reloading her clip.

“Bombs down over here!” Jaal called. Good. Two more to go.

Scope. Crack. More Roekaar down. She cleared a path to the third bomb, cloaking and running for it. Sara ducked behind cover, a few seconds of cloaking left. She deactivated the bomb. Jaal’s booming laughter echoed across the clearing, signaling he had disabled the last one.

Time to clean house.

Sara and Jaal coordinated their strikes, isolating the Roekaar in one central place, in the center of the clearing. Sara pooled a magnetic mass effect field in her hand, releasing it into the center and pulling them all into it. She clenched her fist and pulled. The mass effect field detonated, killing the Roekaar with it.

“Jaal!”

Sara turned, Tevinnt and Baranj came running. Tevinnt wrapped her arms around Jaal.

“I killed Lathoul!” She cried. “I killed him! I’m sorry!”

“You didn’t kill him, you’re lucky.”

“I lost my mind! I want to go home, Jaal!”

“But, the cause.” Baranj hissed. “I joined because of you!”

“I shot our brother, Baranj!”

Akksul stepped from the shadows, his subvocals were a low growl. “Let her leave. I only want soldiers who are committed to our cause.” He glared directly at Sara. “Not weaklings that stand by and watch the distraction of our people at the hands of aliens.” Roekaar lined the ridge, all their guns trained on Jaal and Sara.

Sara had an overwhelming urge to shoot him. “Blowing up your sacred birthplace is pretty drastic, don’t you think?”

“I speak for our people.” Akksul growled, turning to address those behind him, leaving his back open to Ryder, taunting her. “And I say you’re done!” He wiped around, a hand raised. Sara rose her rifle, finger on the trigger and a clear window to shoot Akksul right in the head.

“Akksul don’t do this.” Jaal intervened.

Akksul held up his empty hand. He wanted her to shoot. He wanted her to make him a legend in front of all his people, pretending he had a gun so that she would shoot him and all his followers would speak about how the Human Pathfinder shot an unarmed man.

He pressed his forehead into the barrel of her rifle. “Go on, martyr me.” He smirked. “I dare you.”

With great self-control, Sara lowered her rifle and placed it in its holster on her back, the gun folding in on itself. “I don’t shoot unarmed crazy people.”

Anger flashed through his features briefly. He turned to address his people once again. “They move onto our planets. They take our resources. Make us weak!” The Roekaar on the ledge drank in his words with a reverence.

“I’ve watched Sara make planet’s habitable!” Jaal yelled, his voice carrying.

“Exactly, and they’ll never let us forge-.”

“She rescued our beloved Moshae!” Jaal interrupted Akksul, causing the other man to make a rumbling, angry sound in his chest.

“I know…”

“Saved her life!”

Akksul growled. “I know! Stop defending them!”

Jaal turned to face Akksul. “The Moshae trusts Sara. As do I.”

“Stop!” Akksul raised his gun to Jaal’s head. “We’ve been fighting the wrong enemy! Maybe the enemy is this _traitor_!”

Sara whipped her pistol out of her thigh holster, raising it to Akksul’s head.

“Don’t!” Jaal looked at her with pleading eyes. _Don’t shoot him. Trust me._ He looked back at Akksul. “The Moshae trusts Ryder. You’ve become a danger to your own people. Walk away.”

“Or I kill you and reveal the resistance for the traitors they are!”

Sara wanted to shoot him. She wants to shoot him so bad. He was aiming a gun at Jaal. She was going to lose Jaal. Just like she lost her Mother. Her Father. Just like she might lose Scott. But she had to trust him. So, she watched. Her breath uneven, panic creeping through her blood. But she trusted Jaal.

And Akksul takes the shot.

It feels like Sara has died again, for the second time since arriving in Andromeda. The world moves slow as she watches the bullet fly through the air toward Jaal. The plasma round grazed past his cheek. Jaal winced as the skin was scorched, cutting open his cheek. Sara counts in her head to keep herself from having an attack right there, in front of her enemies. She timed her breathing.

Jaal maintained eye contact with Akksul, unphased by the mark left on him. The Roekaar on the ridge began to shuffle, murmuring to themselves. Some ran. Others joined them, slowly backing away. Jaal had successfully baited Akksul, cornered him and pushed all the right buttons to get him to shoot. But Jaal knew he wouldn’t aim to kill. He knew he wouldn’t have it in him. His plan working hinged on Sara not shooting Akksul. It relied on her _trusting_ him. And she did.

Stars. She trusted that man more than anyone.

“The _alien_ ,” Jaal hissed. “Is _not_ the monster here.”

“I _love_ my people.” Akksul spoke to no one in particular. Jaal ignored him.

“Come on, lets get you home.”

Sara followed Jaal, walking up beside him. She took his hand in hers, squeezing gently. “Are you ok?”

“Yea, thanks.” He grunted, wincing a bit, his cheek twitching. He’d obviously been holding it back since being shot.

 

* * *

 

 

“I am so sorry, Lathoul. I never…”

Lathoul laughed, stepping out of the shuttle, his sister, Tevinnt, by his side. “Couldn’t even kill me a short range.”

Two Angara women approached. Jaal motioned for Sara to step to the side. “Let’s give them a minute.” The both leaned against the railing of the shuttle platform. Jaal took Sara’s hand, rubbing circles into the palm with his thumb. “Thank you, for trusting me. Killing Akksul would have made the Roekaar stronger.”

Sara removed her helmet, letting it drop to the ground. Her hair was wet with sweat and rain. Her face streaked with tears. She’d been silently crying the way back, her mind stuck in a loop. Akksul shooting Jaal again and again. “He shot you.”

Jaal’s thumb brushed a tear from Sara’s cheek. “I’m glad he did. It exposed how far he’d fallen.”

“I was afraid I’d lose you.” She pressed her forehead to his, placing her hands to both sides of his frill.

“It will heal. All scars do.” His thumb smoothed over her cheek. “We should get back, I want to say goodbye to my family, before they go home. Unless…”

“Unless?”

He gripped both of her hands in his own. “Sara Ryder. Would you like to meet my family?”

Sara laughed. “All of them?”

“Hmm. Just the ones that are here currently.”

“I’d love to, Jaal.” She cleared her throat. “But, um. Can I put on clothes that aren’t covered in sweat and rain, first?”

Jaal chuckled. “Of course. We will be here. We will board the shuttle when you return, and take you to my home.”

Sara’s heart fluttered. She was going to see Jaal’s home. Meet his mothers. She gave his hands one last squeeze before bouncing off to the Tempest.

 

* * *

 

 

The shuttle ride is long, but well worth it. The jungle is beautiful. She watches it go by out the shuttle windows. The colors of Havarl are amazing. It is a dark, dusky but rich world. It captivated her on her first arrival, and never ceases to take her breath away. Jaal speaks joyfully with his family, catching up with the two mothers who came to greet Tevinnt, Lathoul and Baranj. They had greeted Sara with hugs and questions, only slightly less curious than Jaal when they had first met. Lathoul sat next to Sara. Every now and then he would sneak peeks at her, staring intently at her hair. She grabbed his hand an plopped it down on her head, causing him to be embarrassed but he still ran his fingers through her locks, remarking to himself how soft it was.

Jaal laughed. “Humans seem to like having their hair played with!” He tossed an arm around Sara’s shoulders. She was now nestled between two curious Angara who liked to touch her. She couldn’t be happier. “She sometimes hums when I stroke her hair. Like a, what was the earth creature called, Sara?”

“A cat, Jaal.”

“Yes!” He seemed wildly amused. “A cat! Sara has shown me pictures! They are small creatures that are very soft! Softer than Sara! They have eyes like an Angara and small, agile bodies!”

Jaal’s description of earth creatures earned a variety of Ooooohs and other exclamations from the various Angara in the shuttle. Sara smiled, resting her head on Jaal’s chest. His hands had replaced Lathoul’s in her hair and she hummed, nuzzling into his hand. She closed her eyes. The man was putting her to sleep with his motions. His fingers slowly running through her hair, the steady thrum of what Sara could now recognize as his bioelectric current, the rumbling of his sub vocals. It all lulled her. She dozed, in and out. She caught snippets of conversation here and there. She remained pleasantly drowsy until Jaal gently shook her awake.

“We are here, Sara.”

“Hmmm?” She blinked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. The others were disembarking from the shuttle. “We’re home?”

Jaal chuckled. “Yes, we are.” There was such a fondness in his voice that it made Sara’s heart swell with warmth.

When they hopped out of the shuttle, Sara spotted a beautiful Angara woman standing near the stairs near the landing pad. She doted on Jaal’s brothers and sister. She looked up, and the warmest smile Sara has ever seen lit up her face. She pushed past the children to run to Jaal, throwing open her arms.

“Jaal!” She embraced him. Jaal wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes and rumbling with excited, warm electricity. His sub vocals displayed a warm, deep fondness. Love, Sara realized. When the woman pulled away she turned to Sara. “You must be Pathfinder Ryder! Jaal has told me so much about you!”

Jaal cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Sara, this is my True Mother, Sahuna Ama Darav.”

Sara went in for a hug and Sahuna seemed to approve, taking her into her arms gently and humming with the same pleasant electricity Jaal was. Sara was filled with emotion. Sahuna hugged her with an affection and warmth that only a mother can give. She almost teared up. “I know Angara like the hugging.” When she parted, she gave Sahuna a big smile. “I also like the hugging.”

“Jaal has told me how much he admires you. He is my favorite. Smart, loyal, kind. A great shot, writes poetry, sews.”

Jaal coughed. “Mother…”

Sahuna laughed, knowing and not caring she was embarrassing her son. “I am late for a resistance meeting, but it was very nice to meet you, Sara Ryder.” She placed a hand on both their shoulders. “Stay clear.”

As Sahuna retreated in the distance, Sara smiled at Jaal. “Your mom is in the resistance?”

“Yes.” He lowered his eyes to meet hers. “And _every_ child is her favorite.”

Jaal and Sara entered the house. There were Angara _everywhere_. They hung out in corners, sat together in the floor. Children ran across the room playing. _Children_. Sara stared. She had not seen Angara children before. Her heart warmed. They were adorable. Jaal saw the elated look on her face and smiled.

“Everyone! This is Sara Ryder!”

Immediately the children rushed over. Tugging at her clothes, grabbing at her hands. They looked at her fingers, her legs.

“Hello alien!”

“Why are your legs weird? Are they ok? Can you walk?”

“What is that on your head? Can I touch it?”

When Sara bent down to let them touch her hair, a seemingly endless point of curiousity for Angara, one of them tugged on her ear.

“What is that?”

“That’s my ear. It’s how I hear!”

One of them stuck his entire hand to her face, feeling her nose.

“Why does it look like that!”

“Humans just have big noses.”

“Why are your eyes weird?”

Jaal laughed, grabbing Sara by the arm and hoisting her up out of the pile of children. The groaned in disappointment. “Come, before they keep you here all night with ceaseless questions.”

“I can think of one Angara who has kept me up long nights asking endless questions.” Sara quipped.

Somewhere in the room an Angara whistled in amusement, Sara was pretty sure it was Lathoul.

Jaal led her to a back room, ushering her inside. Sara heard the kid scrambling to listen to the door, as well as some of the older siblings, she’s sure.

“This,” Jaal gestured to the small room with his outstretched arms. “Is my private sanctuary.”

Sara took it all in. It was small but, it reminded her of the Tech lab in a way. It was filled with half-finished tech projects and bits of wiring and parts. It smelled like him. His scent was everywhere. She felt safe.

“Humans have a saying. ‘Home is where the heart is.’”

Jaal hummed pleasantly. “I like that. Oh no.” He moved over to a table, picking up a small box. “Who put this here…” He sat, Sara joining him. The table was cold on her exposed leg, where her shorts didn’t cover.

She looked over, resting her head on his shoulder. “Schematics? Of…?”

“When I was seven, my aunt stole a Kett weapon for me. So I took it apart, to learn.”

“And that is-was-and Kaerkyn.”

“Pet Kaerkyn, Alfit. He died, so I…also took him apart.”

“To learn?”

Jaal turned to her with a completely serious face. “Why not?”

She scrunched up her face and nodded. Yea. Sure. That wasn’t weird.

He sat the box down, shuffling nervously. “I, uh, don’t show people these things.” He took her hands in his, staring into her eyes. He looked nervous, afraid. “You make my heart sing. I… want us to be together. Officially.”

“Yea, I’d like that.” She chuckled a bit, stealing his line from when she had basically asked him out.

Jaal smiled, laughing. He was giddy and excited. As if she would tell him no. As if she would ever tell this big purple idiot no. “Yes!”

His joy was infectious. Sara laughed at him, with him. He reached a hand behind her head, tangling his fingers in her hair. “I adore you.” And then he gently pulled her to him, his lips finding hers. She felt complete. She leaned into him, enjoying the closeness, the intimacy. They had kissed before, but on the cheeks, noses, kisses pressed along her jawline and to her forehead. Never anything like this. Never anything so intimate. So, _perfect_.

He pulled away too soon. His eyes were alive, beautiful, filled with so much love she could drown in it happily.

This is the moment Sara Ryder realized she is absolutely, impossibly, in love with Jaal Ama Darav.

“I have one more thing to show you.” He helped her up, leading her with his hands. “Lie down.”

She obliged, laying down on the floor of his room, her legs bent at the knee off the ground to prevent her legs from getting cold. The room lit up with stars, galaxies, planets. It was beautiful and swirling.

“It’s beautiful.” Sara breathed, taking in the sight of it all. “You made that?”

Jaal laid down beside her, his hand reaching for hers. “Long ago. It’s not accurate. More of a dream, really. Just one more thing I want to take apart and figure out.” He turned to her. “And now I have someone to do it with.” Sara gave his hand a squeeze.

Jaal sighed. “My mother is going to love you.”

“I hope so, because I already love your mom.”

Jaal’s bioelectricity spikes and snaked its way up Sara’s arm and through her body. It was warm, familiar. It meant Jaal was happy. Staring up at the stars, Jaal’s hand in hers and the pleasant tingling aftermath of Jaal’s lips on hers, Sara was pretty happy too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all of the pleasant feedback you have given me! It means alot to me that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. I love with game and all of it's characters so much.


	7. Pissing off the Archon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara finally boards the Archon's ship and fucks his shit up.

The Archon’s ship was massive. Wide halls filled with crates, boxes, guns, Kett tech and stasis pods. It was dark. The Kett apparently don’t need bright lights. Possibility that they’ve stolen night vision or an equivalent from some other poor Andromeda species. Or they liked to be dramatic. Given the Archon’s penchant for being a drama queen, Sara was willing to place her bets on dramatic lighting.

The stealth approach had failed. Though if Sara really wanted to go in stealthy she probably shouldn’t have brought the Krogan, who were not exactly known for subtly. Bringing Drack along had it’s benefits. The old man ripped through enemies faster than they could come. If there was any time to be thankful for the Krogan… There were large squads of Kett stationed in almost every room, as if the Archon had predicted their attack. Because of fucking course, he did. The bastard was always one step ahead of Sara. The only reason he hadn’t taken Meridian was because Sara is the only one who can interface with it.

The only rooms they hadn’t seen soldiers in were the research labs. That brought another kind of horror, all to itself. There were Kett there, but they were smaller, weak. They fled or hid when Sara approached. They were scared and small and…Sara was sure they used to be Salarian. There were too many missing from the stasis pods, more than she had found dead bodies to explain their disappearance. The Kett had exalted a chunk of the Ark Paachero’s population of stasis sleepers. No doubt he had found the most brilliant scientists among them. Sara understood how important it was, at that moment, that the Paachero crew hid Pathfinder Raeka. If the Archon got his hands on a Pathfinder, he could get his hands on a SAM.

Sara and Scott’s SAM was special, Engineered by their father to be more intelligent, learning, feeling. SAM, _her_ SAM is a person. With each interaction Sara has with him, she notices more differences, things that weren’t there before. He’s learning, growing. Sara can hear verbal inflections briefly in his voice, denoting emotion. He will sometimes crack jokes, attempting to cheer Sara up when she is sad or angry. She’s noticed _Sarcasm_ in his voice a number of times. He has taken on her quirks. SAM _cares_ about her, and the rest of the Tempest crew. He cares about her brother, Scott, as well and often speaks fondly of her parents, Ellen in particular.

While the Archon wouldn’t be getting his hands on the _best_ SAM, he’d have one to study, to take a part and figure out how he works. If he had enough time with a SAM he could possibly replicate one similar to Sara’s. And if he did that it would only be a matter of time before he could interface with Remnant technology, opening a clear path for him to Meridian.

Sara shuddered, thinking about what that monster would be able to do with the Remnant terraforming network. He would _destroy_ this cluster. He would give them no place to go, to hide. Where Sara would make planets habitable, lush and full of life, the Archon would no doubt tear the planets apart

He would exalt them all.

Sara hoped she’d pissed him off enough to kill her instead.

Sara entered a large room lined with research equipment. Tanks, terminals, datapads. It was creepy and the only light came from the equipment sectioned off in the corner of the room and a big overhead in the center.

_“Pathfinder, caution-.”_

Energy sparked around her, binding her arms and legs, snaking around her body. She was lifted, suspended in the air. Her heart froze over, panic like an icy sludge moved through her veins.

_No.no.no.no.no.no._

She struggled. She heard Drack roar behind her. Jaal’s labored breathing and throaty growls. She swallowed down the thick fear that has settled in her throat. Her mind flashing back to her nightmares.

“It’s useless to struggle.” Sara felt a furious heat return to her heart. Her panic was replaced with rage and hatred. The Archon stepped from the shadows, his dead, icy eyes looking over her body with a condescension that made Sara want to rip him apart. He circled her, his steps slow and nonchalant. He was taunting her. “I’ve been in this forsaken cluster for decades. Surrounded by Amoeba.” His voice echoed behind her. He gave a pointed look to Jaal, who growled at him. The archon continued his circling, his languid pace communicating that he had all the time in the world to toy with them.

“And then you arrived. A Human, able to do the unthinkable. You even evaded me.” He seemed somewhat impressed, but in a way that stilled stroked his own ego. He stopped mere inches from her face, she could smell his foul breath. “Such an unlikely rival. It was almost _invigorating_ to have one.”

“Is that what sad looks like on you? I’d give you a hug but…” She gestured loosely to her bound predicament, a smug smirk playing at her lips despite the fear she felt.

He grabbed her chin, his fingers digging into her cheeks, turning her head to get a better look at her.

“Hey! Try that with my, asshole!” Drack threatened.

The Archon payed him no mind, continuing his study of Sara.

“Look, buddy. I’m sure back home you’re a real catch but you just don’t do it for me.” Sara smirked at him as her glowered at her.

One of the Kett handed the Archon a device. Sara strained to get a look at it but she couldn’t move. In one quick, fluid motion, the Archon dabbed the device into the base of her neck. She bit back a scream, only half succeeding.

“Sara!” She heard Jaal scream for her, struggling harder against her bonds.

After a while of the device hissing, the Archon removed it. “A first sample. Your testing begins now.” He glared at her, his head plate nearly bumping her forehead. “I will learn your secrets soon enough.”

A loud cracking sound distracted the Archon. He stepped back, addressing the other Kett in the room. “Report.” He didn’t sound pleased. The Archon paused for a moment. “Await my arrival.” He turned back to Sara, his eyes roaming her. She felt dirty under his gaze, like she need six showers. “Save your strength, Human.”

She spat in his face, glowering at him. Enraged, the Archon struck her. Jaal made an animalistic sound of rage behind her. The Archon turned to exit, leaving Sara behind, spitting blood from her mouth.

Once the Archon had left Sara finally spoke. “SAM what the _fuck_ did he inject in me?”

_“It is not the exaltation serum, Sara, but I am sensing a biological transmitter in your bloodstream. Attempting to neutralize it.”_

“Ok that I definitely concern number two. What can you tell me about these restraints?”

_“The containment fields only interact with living matter.”_ Oh, Sara was not liking where this was going. _“If you expire, the field around you will dissipate until manually reset.” Definitely_ not liking this. _“As you know, my programming allows me to enhance your vital signs when required. I can also do the opposite.”_

“Ok, whoa, Sam! I kind of don’t feel like dying today!”

_“After stopping your heart, I will attempt to resuscitate, of course.”_

“Are there any other options? I’ll take what’s behind door two as long as it doesn’t involve death!”

_“None that I can determine.”_ Sam replied. _“I am sorry, Sara.”_

Sara drew in a shaking breath. “Alright, SAM, let’s do it.”

Jaal cried out. “Sara! There is no garuntee this will work!”

“It’s the only option I have, Jaal.” Her voice cracked. “I’ll…I’ll be fine. SAM will bring me back. It’ll be like taking a short nap.” She tried to believe herself. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

_“Stopping your heart now.”_

Jaal watched as Sara’s body slumped in the containment field before dropping limp to the floor. Her eyes were closed, like she was sleeping. But the lack of movement, the stillness of her chest where there would usually be a steady rise and fall of soft breathing. Jaal bit back the sob threatening to escape his mouth. Sara would be fine. She’d wake up.

_“Stimulating the cardiovascular core.”_ There was a pause. _“Zero activity.”_ Jaal’s blood ran cold. “Stimulating the cardiovascular core.”

There was a long silence. For a moment Jaal thought that they had lost both Sara and SAM. Then Sara opened her eyes, taking in a long, deep breath. Her eyes zipped around the room, finally settling on his face. She smiled, still laying on the floor. “Good morning beautiful.” Jaal laughed, tears falling down his cheeks. She was ok.

Sara sat up, her muscles shaking. “Second time dying since arriving in Andromeda.” She stood, almost stumbling. “Can’t say the experience is improving.” She hopped to her feet, rolling her shoulders, and stretching her legs. She groaned, turning to face them and propping her gun up on her shoulder, her free hand on her hip. Sara smirked at them. “You guys look comfy.”

Drack glared. “Down. Now.”

Sara walked swiftly to the nearby console, her movements were jittery, like she had too much energy. Adrenaline was likely running wild through her blood. She typed on the console and the field dissipated. Jaal ran to Sara as soon as he touched the ground.

“Sara.” He embraced her, running his hands through her hair and kissing her. “Darling one, I was afraid I’d lost you.”

“I know, Jaal.” She kissed his noses, causing him to scrunch his face. She loved it when he did that. “I’m here. I’m ok.”

“If you two lovebirds are finished, we have a map to Meridian to find.”

Sara laughed, giving Jaal one last kiss. “Alright, grandpa. You ready to kick some ass?”

Drack grunted when she gave him a playful slap to his armor. “Only if you can keep up without dying again.”

“Let’s do it then.” Sara readied her rifle. “I’ve got enough adrenaline running through me right now to last another hour. Maybe 3 if SAM can keep it going.”

_“That is unwise, Sara. Too much adrenaline can cause permanent health complications. I suggest quickly getting to the Archon’s chambers, securing the map and an immediate extraction. You will need to visit Dr. T’Perro.”_

“Alright, yea. I can do quick.”

Sara took a look around the lab before they left. There were audio logs from the Archon scattered everywhere. About her. About the Initiative, the Angara, Humans, Turians, Krogan, Asari and Salarians. Sara whipped a small charge detonator and place it near the terminals. When they left, she’d detonate it. Pissing the Archon off and destroying at least one copy of his research.

The bastard had a Krogan in a tank. Or at least what _used_ to be a Krogan. One of Drack’s scouts. It seemed dead, lifeless. She wasn’t sure if it really was or if all Kett just looked that way. She hoped it was the former.

She scanned the Rem-tech scattered across the Archon’s chambers. It was junk, all of it. The Archon was taking shots in the dark. He didn’t know what was junk and what was actually useful. Everything in the room was busted, useless.

_“Pathfinder, this is the relic the Moshae described, it does seem to be a map.”_

Sara stepped toward it. A slab of metal that was inscribed with Remnant glyphs. She raised her hand to it and t it lit up. It raised, responding to her movement, her intentions.

_“I’ll attempt to overlay it with the map from the Aya vault.”_

The glyph in the middle glowed, displaying a wire-frame model of a ship. A space station.

“So that’s what you’re after.”

Sara spun around, her rifle ready. The Archon, or a projection of him, strode forward. “There is more to Meridian than you know. Changing the weather is a fraction of it’s power.” He stopped in front of Sara deliberately, her head came up to his chest. He was attempting to make her feel small. He bent at the waist to speak to her directly. “And I will not allow you to defile it.”

“Kind of like how you didn’t _allow_ me to escape your little trap?” She popped her lips together, taunting him with her easy nature.

“That was not you. It was your Artificial Intelligence that allowed you to escape. I’ve seen what transpired in the laboratory and I know what makes you _special_.” The Archon seemed unphased by her escape. “Meridian is _mine_.” He hissed. “I’ve tolerated you long enough.” He spun to turn. “Once your ship is damaged you will be stranded here.” He glanced back at her, over his shoulder, an arrogant smirk on his lips. “And then you, Pathfinder, will also be _mine_.”

Sara activated her comms. “Fire the EMP!” A look of confusion crossed the Archon’s face. Then anger, before image was wipe out by the EMP.

“God. Pissing him off is just so _satisfying_.” An animalistic roar came from the laboratory. Sara paled. “What are the chances that whatever that thing is, it hates the Archon as much as we do and wants to be friends?”

The exalted Krogan from before charged out of the lab. It roared, jumping from the top of the stairs to level with Sara and her crew.

“Well, fuck.”

Sara cloaked, darting past the exalted Krogan and taking cover, switching her normal rounds for electric rounds. Those usually stunned Krogan and Kett long enough for her to shoot the plates off their heads and get a good shot in. The thing likely didn’t have shields, so that’s good. Unfortunately, it was entirely possible that he had super dense plating.

Her cloak dropped. Sara rose from cover and scoped. Drack and the exalted Krogan were doing most of the fighting. The old man was giving it hell but there was only so long he could last. She scoped in on some skin exposed on its cheek and fired. It electric charge stunned it long enough for her to line a shot with the underside of his head plate. She fired another shot, knocking off a piece of the plating. Good.

She cloaked again, finding a different vantage point. Never fire twice from the same position. The stunning wore off and the thing was ignoring Jaal and Drack. Their bullets bounced off of it. It was looking for her. Sara scoped the underside of the plates on his other side. Once the thing turned around to face her as her cloak fell away, she fired. Another piece.

It charged for her, but stopped, infuriated when she cloaked again. She just needed to chip the thick layer of bone from his forehead and she could land a hit. She activated her jets, propelling backwards and hovering. Her cloak fell again as she fired, taking the last piece. She ran, changing her clip. The Krogan barreled after her. Once she was on a ledge and the Krogan far bhind her she scoped for his head and…

Crack.

The Krogan fell, but not by her shot. She looked up for the source based on the trajectory and entry point. Jaal nodded to her, a small smile on his face. If he hadn’t had taken that shot then it was likely the Krogan would have reached her, her cloak not recharging in time to flee.

_Pathfinder, a moment.”_ SAM notified over group comm. _“I am picking up Krogan life-signs aboard this ship. Several captives are being held not far from your location.”_ SAM’s voice seemed almost sad. _“They are scheduled for exaltation.”_

“Ryder, those could be my scouts.”

“Do we have time to get there before the Kett restore power?”

_“If you act quickly.”_

Her comms beeped. “Ryder, this is Raeka, I’m pinned down.” Her voice was frantic. “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

_Fuck._

“Where are you?”

“Near hold cells where they are keeping several of my people. They are still alive. I ordered Captain Hajer back to the Ark.”

Sara cursed, kicking at a tank. “You should be with him!”

“I couldn’t leave my people! I had to try… And now…I think it’s over.” Her voice cracked. “From one Pathfinder to another…Farewell.”

“Raeka, out.”

_Damn it!_

_“There isn’t time to save both, once the power is restored, you’ll be trapped.”_

Drack growled. “Ryder, that bastard will turn my scouts into monsters!”

“Reload!” Sara hissed. “We have to save those scouts from exaltation.”

“Ryder…” Drack slapped Sara on the back. “Thanks, kid.”

She nodded, moving ahead. Once they reached the approximate location for the holding cells, they were greeted by one of the scouts. He had gotten lose when the power went out. Her begged for her help. Sara fought forward, trying to keep Raeka out of her mind. Another Pathfinder lost because of the Kett. Hajer would be chosen as her replacement, but it still hurt Sara that she’d have to leave anyone to die. She had promised Drack she’d help find his scouts. And she didn’t want the Archon to have any of them.

As they left, Sara locked eyes with the Archon. Her watched them leave on their ship with no power to stop them. His face was enraged. She was numb. Even so, just as power began to flicker again in his ship, as they were about to warp and the bay doors were closing in front of her, she pulled out the detonator to the bombs she had set in his lab. Her eyes still locked with his, she smiled, and pressed the button.

The look on the Archon’s face, the rage, the hatred.

That made all the pain worth it as they warped away, the last of her adrenaline wearing off.


	8. Angara Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara has a sweet reunion with Scott. Sam Jams Clams.

Lexi was a nightmare after they came back. The doctor prescribed her a week of bed rest. No fighting, no running around solving every stranger’s that asks problems. The only thing physical she could do was yoga. Sara hated yoga.

Sara stretched, feeling the pain of dying and then coming back in her muscles. She limped out of the med bay, covered in needle marks and bandages. Jaal waited for her in the pathfinder quarters. He was reclined on her bed, typing into his omni-tool, when she walked in. He shut it down, striding quickly over to her, drawing her gently into his arms.

“Sara, my Darling One.” He released a shuddering breath into her hair. “ _Never_ scare me like that again.”

“Well, I can safely say I’m not _planning_ on dying again.” She kissed him, running her hands through his frill. “But I’m here, now. I’m alive. You told me once that Angara strive for the _now_.” Jaal made an annoyed rumbling noise in his chest, one he often made when Sara was right. “And do you know what I want right now?”

“What do you want, my Darling One?’ He left a trail of kisses down Sara’s neck, tickling her and causing her to giggle.

“Well, the good doctor has prescribed me a week of bedrest. We are grounded on the Nexus for a week.” She led Jaal to the bed, flopping down and pulling him with her. She laughed at the surprised noise he made in the back of his throat. “If I’m going to be held prisoner on my own ship, in my own room and in my own bed…” Sara propped herself up, leaning over Jaal, planting small kisses over his face and frill. “Then I’m going to take you hostage and force you to suffer bedrest with me.”

Jaal made a playful growling sound, rolling her over and trapping her beneath him. “Mmmm. And what torture do you have planned for the both of us?”

“Me.” She leaned up to kiss him. “You.” Another kiss to his smiling lips. “All of the Disney movies we could ever ask for. Maybe some non-Disney cartoons. Teen Titans is a classic. Old. Has aliens in it from before Humans made first contact so its bound to be a laugh.” Jaal laughed into her lips. “Some more human snack foods, soda. Maybe some alcohol if I can sneak it past Lexi.”

“And more of this?”

“All of the cuddling and kissing you can stand, big guy.”

“Are you sure? Because I can stand _a lot_.” Jaal pressed his forehead to hers, giggling.

“I think I can handle all the big, strong, Angara love you can dish out.”

Jaal made a deep rumbling noise, pressing his lips to Sara’s. He kissed her with a hunger, a passion she hadn’t experienced from him before. She loved it. She wrapped her arms around his head, pulling his closer, her nails slowly dragging against his skin. One hand traveled her body, unwinding her scarf and unzipping her jacket. She leaned up to shrug it off, tossing both items to the floor. Sara kicked off her shoes and wrapped her legs around Jaal’s waist.

He pulls away, looking into Sara’s eyes with desire burning in his. “What about this.” He smirks. “Can you handle this much _Angara love_.”

“Needs more experimenting I think.” She runs a hand down his back and settles on his hip. “And _way_ less clothes.”

Jaal hums in agreement, pulling Sara back into him and running a hand under her tank. He thumbs her nipple through the fabric of her bra, earning a moan into his lips. He remembered just how _sensitive_ that area was. Sara reached behind herself, breaking the kiss for a moment to unhook the article of clothing. She pulled the straps down her arms and reached down her shirt to pull it off, throwing it into the growing pile of abandoned clothing. Her nipples and the piercings show through her shirt and Jaal takes a moment to appreciate the view before continuing his work.

His head dips down, pressing kisses and nips to Sara’s neck, stopping at her collarbone. He pulls the fabric up, exposing her breasts. Jaal continued his motions with his thumb, taking the other nipple in his mouth. Sara _keens_ at the feeling, her nails digging into his frill, making him groan. He sends a bioelectric current through his fingers, just enough to be felt but not enough to overwhelm her.

“Jaal!” Oh, the way she moans his name is _exquisite_.

When her takes her nipple between his thumb and finger and rolls it gently she arches into him. Her hands fumble to remove her pants. Jaal stops his motions only momentarily to help her. His hand travels downward, rubbing her. She was practically soaking. He removes his mouth from her, kissing down her stomach. Sara’s hands clench in the sheets. She moans his name again, jumbled with curses and things that are either not words or his translator doesn’t pick them up.

_“Pathfinder.”_

“ _Fuck_. Not now SAM.” She breathed. “Kind of in the middle of something.”

Jaal began to tug down her panties. Sara made that keening noise he loved.

_“Pathfinder I have a message you will undoubtedly find urgent.”_

Sara growled. “SAM. I swear to god this better be important. Because if you interrupt _this_ to tell me I got gun pictures from Drack again I will be _very_ pissed.”

Jaal laughed, halting momentarily while his Darling One talked with the AI. This could wait a bit longer.

_“Pathfinder I have a message from Carlyle on the Hyperion. Your bother, Scott, has awoken from his coma and is ready for visitation.”_

Sara hopped up, heading for the door.

_“Pathfinder I think clothes would be beneficial.”_

“Right!” She scrambled for her clothes, Jaal assisting. “Right. Fuck.” She tugged on her pants and fumbled with her bra. “Sorry, Jaal.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders, stilling her for a moment. “Do not apologize, Darling One. It is a joyous occasion that your brother is awake!” He kissed her. “Get dressed, this can wait for another time.”

“God, I must have been a saint in a past life to deserve you.” She planted a quick kiss on his lips before pulling her shirt over her head and tugging her shoes back on. Sara hopped up, scooping her jacket off the floor and shoving it on. “Alright, come on.”

She tugged at Jaal’s hand. He looked confused. “You do not wish to go alone?”

“No!” Sara laughed, pulling him to her and nuzzling his nose with hers. “I’ve met your family, Jaal. Now I want you to meet mine.” Jaal felt tears well up in his eyes. “Granted, it’s a lot less overwhelming than your family but he’ll love you.”

“Thank you, Sara.”

She leaned in for a long, languid kiss. “Anytime, _Darling One_.”

Jaal felt like his heart would explode from love.

 

* * *

 

 

Sara practically _ran_ to the Hyperion med bay. Jaal could barely keep up, urging Sara to pace herself. Dr. T’Perro was sure to throw a fit if she caught Sara exerting herself so soon after _literally_ dying. When they got on the tram from Hydroponics to the Hyperion, Jaal was more out of breath than Sara.

When they arrived, Sara exited swiftly, breaking into a jog. Sara ran into the med bay and launched herself at Scott, who nearly fell catching her. Jaal stood by and watched the reunion, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

 “I’m just so glad my little baby brother is awake.” She peppered his face with kisses.

“Ugh. By, like, one minute.” Scott laughs.

She shrugged, plopping haphazardly onto the med bay bed. “It still counts.” She ruffled his dark hair. “We take a 600-year nap and you oversleep. You never were an early riser, Scott but this is ridiculous.”

“Oh, eat my entire ass.”

Sara scoffed. “Too skinny. No meat on you. Can’t eat an ass that doesn’t exist.” Scott jabbed her in the ribs playfully.

“So.” He leans on Sara’s shoulder. “I hear my big sister has gone and made herself Pathfinder. That’s pretty fancy.”

Sara’s smile falters. “Scott, I didn’t chose this. Dad did.”

“Yea. I know.” Scott’s eyes darken for a second, before lighting up again. “He chose well. You always were the better fighter. And if anything I’ve heard since waking up is true, you’ve done a hell of a job.”

“Dad would have done better.”

“No.” Scott smiled sadly. “I don’t think he would have done nearly as well as you.” They shared a silent moment before Scott spoke again. “So, are you going to tell me who your handsome alien friend is or am I going to have to introduce myself.” He eyed Jaal, giving him a once-over with mischievous eyes.

Sara hopped up, face red. “Jaal Ama Darav, this is Scott Ryder, my little twin brother.” Scott put his hand out for a handshake, standing. Jaal pulled him into a hug instead, patting him roughly on the back. “Scott, this is my boyfriend, Jaal Ama Darav.”

When Jaal let Scott go he faced Sara with shock on his face. “No way! I’m out for a little while and you go and snag yourself a hot, mysterious alien guy?”

Jaal laughed. “It is good to meet you, Scott Ryder! Sara has told me how much she adores you!”

“Are there more of you or do I have to steal your heart from my sister?” Scott quipped, winking at Jaal.

“S-Scott!”

Jaal laughed, slapping Scott on the back again. “She also told me of your wit.” He turned to Sara. “We _must_ introduce him to Evfra when he is well. The look on his face in learning there are _two_ Ryders is something I wish to witness myself.”

“And to your siblings, on Havarl.” She smirked at Scott. “And yes, Scott, there are plenty of Angara men other than Jaal.”

“You’re lucky there are, because he would not have been able to resist my charms.”

Sara sighed. “You and Reyes would make a better match, honestly.”

“Who’s Reyes?”

“You’ll meet him soon enough, I’m sure.”

Scott stumbled, faint and weak. Sara caught him just before he hit the floor. Harry was on Scott in a second, fussing over him. He had Scott lay back down on the bed.

“I’m fine, doc. Just got a little dizzy.” Scott groaned, trying to sit up. He flopped back onto the mattress weakly. “Or maybe I need to nap. Ok. That’s cool too.”

Sara sat down beside him, smoothing his hair from his face. “Hey, I know what will make you feel better later, after you’ve had your nap.” He quirked a brow at her. “I can get a TV set up in the Pathfinder quarters here on the Hyperion and we can watch any dumb movie you want.”

Harry sighed. “As long as he doesn’t leave the Hyperion and refrains from any exhausting physical activities he should be fine.” He gave a pointed look at the twins. “But if he gets hurt doing any of your Ryder twin shenanigans I’ll have you _both_ on bedrest.”

Sara smirked. “Lexi already beat you to that, Harry.” She bent down to plant a kiss on her brother’s forehead. “I’m here all week, with nothing to do and nowhere to go.”

“If you’re on bedrest, Pathfinder, then why are you on my ship and not in bed?”

_Shit_

“I think my brother waking up from a coma is grounds to violate the good doctor’s orders.”

Scott yawned. “Well I hope you don’t mind if I use the Pathfinder’s quarters here on the Hyperion, sis, because I’ll be damned if I’m going to get any decent sleep on this bed.”

“What is mine, is yours, little bro.” Scott eyed Jaal with a smile she swore she’d seen on Reyes on multiple occasions. “Except for that, you ass. Shoo. Go to bed before I knock you out.”

Scott stood up and stretched. “Alright, I’ll message you when I’m up. Be prepared, I’m feeling a Disney movie marathon coming on.”

“Great minds think alike.”

Jaal wrapped his arms around Sara from behind, watching Scott walk off with Dr. Carlyle’s assistance. He nuzzled her neck affectionately. “My mother is going to love him, too.”

Sara sighed, leaning into him. She couldn’t wait to spend the night watching movies and spending time with the two men she loved the most in the entire universe.


	9. Speculative Fiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott, Sara and Jaal have a movie night on the Hyperion. Jaal helps Scott with his feels.

“Why do all of the aliens look like Humans in this?” Jaal questioned between mouthfuls of sweet, buttery kettle corn. “There is no reason to assume that aliens would look anything even similar to them.”

Scott groaned. “It’s a movie, Jaal. Human’s hadn’t made first contact with the Turians yet, this was speculative fiction.”

“No, Scott, speculative fiction is when the movie or other forms of media exist in the existing universe but with elements of supernatural or imagined events.”  Sara popped the tab of her fourth soda for the night. “This movie obviously belongs in the science fiction category. The science is fake and the blue alien babes are just there for spank bank material.”

“Asari are blue alien babes so obviously, they got something right.”

“Yea, like the green aliens babes, the pink alien babes, the golden alien babes the-.”

“Alright, I get it, there are a lot of multicolored babes in this movie.” Scott sighed. “Humans hadn’t encountered aliens yet so this was kind of a shot in the dark. It’s good for the time period it came from.”

“I’m just saying, it’s a _lazy_ shot in the dark.” Sara heard Scott typing away at his omni-tool.

“Ha!” He shouted. “In your face, Sara! I just looked it up on the extranet and science fiction is just a subsection of speculative fiction!”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Whatever helps you get over the fact that this movie is lazy as hell and could have tried harder.”

Jaal smiled, listening to the twin’s banter. They both interacted with each other as if they hadn’t missed a day. As if they had both been together since arriving in Andromeda. Sara would occasionally speak of her adventures while Scott was asleep, but only when asked. Every other conversation was playful jabs and reminiscing about the past. It reminded Jaal of himself and his siblings. They would all gather together for dinner and talk about their adventures, their accomplishments. Most of his siblings were famous within the Resistance, or renowned scientists. Jaal did not often have stories to tell. His own position in the Resistance had never satisfied him, and he had not accomplished much to tell about.

Since joining the Tempest crew, however, Jaal had so many stories that he couldn’t possibly get through them all with his siblings. And some of them he could not tell, those were private. Even so, Jaal doesn’t feel the need to brag about his accomplishments. He hardly ever dwells on how he felt before meeting Sara. Angara are about the _now_ , as Sara had reminded him. Whatever need he had felt to compete with his siblings had long since dissipated.

“That explosion would have been silent, they’re in space!” Sara quipped, leaning on Jaal and burring her face in his side.

“You can’t even blame that one on this movie being old, because they do that in Last of The Legion too. And Fleet and Flotilla.”

“I get it Scott, no one cares about realistic science in movies.”

The twins were getting tired. He could tell because they yawned in between banter. They also kept laying on him, dozing every now and then. The humans gravitated towards his larger form, curling around him. Sara had once told him that his body is much warmer than the average humans, making him perfect to cuddle with when it’s cold. On one of their visits to Voeld, Sara had demanded he wrap his arms around her wherever they went.

“You’re like an electric blanket that hugs back.” Scott murmured, snuggling into his side. “You are built like a warm, cozy friend.”

Jaal didn’t know what that meant but he assumed it was a compliment. Scott had decided to watch every movie that humans made with aliens in them before they even knew aliens existed. Humans tended to be very creative creatures. Some of the movies were very realistic, aliens with varying non-human physiology and a myriad of differential cultures. While the movie ‘Treasure Planet’ was very fantastical and unrealistic, Jaal appreciated the aesthetic and story. He found himself weeping at some points, the twins comforting him.

“Why must they part if they love each other so much?” The Angara had questioned.

“Because he’s a criminal and he’d be arrested if he went back home with Jim.” Sara replied. “And Jim can’t leave with him because he has to go back to his mother.”

There were other movies that weren’t so creative.

“If they protect more than one galaxy shouldn’t they be called the Guardians of the Universe, instead?”

“God, not you too, Jaal.” Scott pushed him playfully. Jaal didn’t budge an inch. “It’s just catchier that way.”

Jaal looked over to Sara, who had been silent for some time. She was curled against his hip, arms wrapped loosely around his thigh. She snored softly.

Scott switched the movie off, yawning. “It never takes her long to conk out on movie night.”

Jaal laughed softly, running his fingers through Sara’s hair. “We have watched quite a few, I am surprised she lasted this long.” Sara nuzzled against his hand in her sleep. Jaal turned to smile at Scott. “She was so excited to hear you were well. She hasn’t rested properly since the Archon’s flagship.”

Scott draws his knees to his chest, casting a sad glance down at the sleeping Sara. “She worries me, you know.”

“She worries us all.” Jaal replied. “She is a strong-hearted woman. But very stubborn.”

“Ha. Yea, she is.” Scott leans back, staring at the ceiling. “I wish I could come with you guys, help. It worries me that she’s out there while I’m here, being useless.”

Jaal ceases his movements, focusing his attention on Scott. “You are not useless, Scott.” He takes one of the human’s hands in his own. “You bring great joy to Sara. Great love. Love is a tremendous source of strength. Angara believe that family makes you stronger, their love bolstering your strength; your resolve.” He could not see Scott’s face, but he felt his body shake with sobs. “You are of tremendous use to your sister here, where you are safe; where she _knows_ you are safe.”

Scott sniffs, laughing and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Sara told me you’re really good at the whole figuring out emotions thing.” He finally looked Jaal in the eyes. “And the making people feel better thing.”

“Hm.” Jaal mused, a small smile playing on his face. “I suppose I am.”

Sara stirs and opens her eyes. Jaal turns his attentions back his Darling One. “Hey.” Sara sat up and blinked, rubbing her eyes. “Is the movie over?”

“Yep, and you missed all of the good parts.”

Jaal brushed the hair out of Sara’s eyes. “I believe it’s time you get to bed, Darling One.”

“Yea, I think you’re right.” She stretches. Jaal can’t help but to stare at her as she arches her back and her tank rides up, revealing skin. His mind flicks back to their earlier activities, before they were interrupted by SAM. “Sorry to leave so soon, Scott.”

Scott shrugged. “Eh, after so many hours of you criticizing my taste in old, shitty filmography I was starting to get sick of you anyway.”

Sara threw a pillow at Scott and he narrowly avoided getting hit in the face. “Fine. See if I come visit you tomorrow after my meeting with Tann about Meridian.”

Jaal stood, stretching, as the two continued to bicker. They love each other very much. He can tell by how they interact. There is a radiance, a happiness that wasn’t there before in Sara. A hole in her heart had been filled with Scott’s awakening and Jaal couldn’t be happier for Sara.

When they made it back to the Tempest, Sara slid out of her clothes and into bed, beckoning Jaal to join her. Experimentally he began to remove his under suit, to see if she would allow it. When she didn’t object, he shed his suit and climbed into bed. Sara moved into his arms and he felt her skin against his.

They fell asleep in each other’s embrace. And for once, despite the horrors they had experienced, Sara doesn’t wake up once and doesn’t have a single nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one was a little later than my other ones (and shorter.) I start work back tomorrow so updates are going to be alot slower now. I was also gone all of Saturday visiting my fiance so i didn't have time to write then. I tried to make up for it with a double update on Friday.
> 
> Anyway, a lot of people write Scott as a bit pissed off that Sara has a boyfriend when he wakes up. I feel like my Scott would be happy for her and feel more sad that he can't be there. And worried that she'll get hurt while he's out of commission. He likely feels useless and scared. I figured the Feelings Man himself would be able to make him feel better.
> 
> Again, thanks for reading. This is my first longfic in a long time. I haven't written a lot since back when I wrote shameless self-insert Kingdom Hearts fanfiction in middle school (I'm a senior in college now so it's been a LONG time.) 
> 
> Love you guys <3


	10. Blowing Off Steam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara is frustrated at everybody's least favorite Salarian and suggests that she blow off steam. Jaal is challenged to a sparring contest and decides a charm offensive would be more...rewarding. SAM continues to jam clams.

Sara screamed into her pillow, muffling it so as not to alarm the crew. To say she was angry, frustrated, absolutely _livid_ would be the smallest possible description of what she was. She was a vicious cocktail of negative emotions that could be vaguely be associated with angry. All of these emotions aimed at one annoying Salarian. Furious, enraged, vexed. None of them seemed to fit how much she hated Director Tann.

The bastard would not _allow_ her to go after Meridian. The whole few months she’d been awake they’d been giving her all of this responsibility to make worlds habitable, to gather resources, wake sleepers and fight bad guys. And once she had a sure-fire way of fucking doing all of these things, to make these golden worlds golden again, the fucking asshole tells her to find another way. He can’t risk the resources of fighting that many Kett, he says. Too risky, he says. Well so was infiltrating the Archon’s flagship and she pulled that off with her own crew, no help from Nexus and a few non-combatant Salarians that had just woken from stasis.

She could rush Meridian without Nexus help. She couldn’t just _find another way_. This was their _only_ shot. She just needed to find a way to take it without killing herself or her crew. As angry as she is she still needs help getting to the damn place.

_“Pathfinder your cortisol levels have dramatically increased since your visit to Director Tann. I believe you are under emotional distress.”_

“Gee, SAM.” Sara scoffed. “What gave you that idea?”

_“You are upset that Director Tann will not allow you to capture Meridian. Based on your psychological profile and cross reference with you and your father’s previous interactions, it is safe to assume that you do not handle authority well and do not like being told what to do.”_

“That’s brilliant SAM.” Sara huffed sarcastically. “Any other astute observations or diagnosis?”

_“Thank you, Sara.”_ The AI responded. _“I have formulated a number of activities that reduce the production of the stress hormone, cortisol, in humans. Among the top few are meditation, yoga, engaging in hobbies, exercise, and sexual intercourse. I believe, from cross referencing your activities with Jaal yesterday, that the latter is beneficial to your emotional health and have contacted him.”_

Sara paled, sitting straight up on her bed. “What the actual _fuck_ SAM?” She ran a hand roughly through her hair in frustration. “Did you just fucking booty call my boyfriend for me?”

_“In layman’s terms, yes, I believe I did. You are upset. Are my files incorrect in stating that being in the physical presence of one’s sexual or romantic partner prompts the brain to release oxytocin and dopamine, which significantly reduces the levels of cortisol in the system?”_

Ryder groaned. “I mean, you’re not _wrong_.” This AI was going to kill her. Again. “But Jaal and I haven’t really even _had_ sex yet. We’ve fooled around above clothes and, well, whatever that was yesterday, but I don’t know if we’re ready for _that_ yet.”

_“You are both romantically and sexually interested in each other. I calculate an 83% chance that your activities would have led to sexual intercourse, had I not interrupted. You were both aroused and-.”_

“OK, SAM. That’s enough of that.”

_“My apologies, Pathfinder. It seems I have increased your levels of cortisol. I believe you are embarrassed. Adding that to my files.”_

Sara buried her red face in her hands. She loves SAM but sometimes the fact that he’s a computer becomes painfully evident. She looked up when the door hissed open. Jaal strode in, looking worried, his brow furrowed and his hands fidgeting like they did when he was distressed.

“Darling One.” He sat next to her on the bed, drawing her into a tight hug. “SAM alerted me that you are distressed. What bothers you?”

The human laughs when her neck is peppered in kisses from the man. “Nothing is wrong, Jaal. I was just angry at Tann.”

“Ah, yes. That meeting did not go well.” He murmured into her neck. “I noticed a spike in your biotics during the meeting. If you were Angara and had bioelectricity that would indicate you were upset. I assumed it was the same.”

“Yea, in SAM’s words, I don’t appreciate being told what I can or cannot do.”

He laughed. “I have noticed. You are a stubborn woman. A force of nature.” Sara’s face tinged pink as his kisses worked their way down her neck. “All parts of what I _love_ about you.”

_“96%, Pathfinder.”_

The pink of her cheeks turned a deep red. “SAM what the fuck! Stop calculating my chances of getting laid!”

_“My apologies, Sara. Going into standby.”_

Jaal snickered into her neck, pulling back. “What can I do to get your mind off of Tann and onto other things?” There was a smirk on his lips, one Sara intended on wiping off. But not now. She needed something _else_ right now.

“Do your people spar, Jaal?”

A puzzled look replaced his confidence. “You have seen our training facilities on Aya, Sara. You know we do.”

“No. I mean, not just to train, but to also blow off steam.”

“We do, occasionally. It is good to get out the distractions, the negative emotions, before a battle where they can cost you and your team their lives.” A confidence seemed to leak back into her features. “I was thinking you’d want to engage in _other_ physical activities, but I’d be happy to help you relieve your frustrations in battle, as well.”

Sara stood, stretching. “You seem eager to fight me, anything I should be worried about?”

He grinned, looking Sara up and down with a vivacious gaze. “Your body is art, Sara. The way you move in battle is mesmerizing.” When he stood, he pulled her forward into him, cupping her ass with his large hands. “You are a strong warrior. I would be delighted to see you in action without armor, without weapons. Just your body and your biotics against mine and my bioelectricity.” He sucked on her neck gently before stepping away and sending her a playful smirk. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also interested in how a Human would fare in hand-to-hand combat with an Angara. Our forms are much larger and we seem to be capable of more strength than Humans. However, I have noticed that your people are more agile and _flexible_.”

The way Jaal said the word flexible did things to her body. This bastard was going to seduce her in combat. “Humans have a saying ‘the bigger they are the harder they fall.’”

Jaal hummed. “We shall see how confident you are when I best you.”

Sara scoffed, pulling off her pants in favor for some athletic shorts. She pretended she didn’t see Jaal size her up as she undressed. She also ditched her shirt for a sports bra. If Jaal was going to fight dirty then she was too.

“Where do you plan on doing this?”

She bounced on her toes, stretching, and warming up. “Cargo bay. There’s enough room for sparring close combat with the nomad raised.”

“And there will be an audience for your defeat.”

Sara stepped out of her room, Jaal trailing her. “So confident for someone who’s about to get their ass handed to them.”

Jaal made an amused rumbling sound in his chest at the challenge. “We shall see.”

The nomad had already been raised after repairs were completed. Jaal and Sara moved any clutter to the side of the room to prevent tripping. Peebee leaned over the railing of the bay looking down at them with curious eyes.

“Heeeeey.” She called, winking at Sara. “What are you two doing down there?”

“I’m gonna kick Jaal’s ass, that’s what.” She hoisted a box out of the way.

Jaal laughed at her across the room. “Sara has asked me to spar with her so that she can relieve frustrations.”

“Well, Ryder, I figured you and Jaal would be taking care of frustrations in a different way. Ya’ know, in your quarters.” She sent some more wink’s Sara’s way.

“Fuck you and your winks, Peebee.”

The Asari sighed. “I offered. You waited too long, now your chance with a cute Asari is gone. That’s what happens.”

Jaal unfastened his Rofjinn and folded it, setting it on a pile of crates. In a closed space like this it is prudent Sara have nothing to grab onto. He had seen her in battle before and in close quarters combat she used every advantage. He watched as Sara pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Her hair often got in her eyes and obscured peripheral vision. Jaal noted that she probably knew he’d use it as an advantage. They were both well-versed in each other’s mannerisms and fighting techniques. Sara had brought Jaal on nearly every ground mission. They had both seen each other fight many times.

Sara stretched, loosening her muscles. She bent to touch her toes, her back to him. She caught his eyes as she stared at him between her legs and winked. Sara was going to use distraction and seduction to win this fight. He supposed they would both have to fight dirty, then.

The crew had all gathered on the deck above, eager to watch the team’s best infiltrators against each other. They both hear Peebee and Gil making bets on who will win. The popular vote seemed to be Jaal. The rules were simple. No cheating using SAM, no lethal use of biotics of electricity, no running out of bounds and whoever was pinned for a count of ten loses. Peebee volunteered as referee.

Sara raised her arms and balled her hands into fists, assuming a defensive stance. “Don’t assume I’ll go easy on you just because you’re my boyfriend.”

Jaal chuckled, also assuming his combatant stance. “I would only ask you not hold anything back, Darling One. I look forward to seeing your beauty and passion in battle, up close.”

His praise caught her off-guard, tinting her cheeks. She almost didn’t catch his lung forward in time to dodge. “Flattery will get you a lot of places with me, but it won’t help you pin me.”

A predatory smirk spread across Jaal’s face. “Flattery seemed to work yesterday.”

“Jaal!” Sara squeaked, ducking under his arms as he attempted to grab her. She nearly stumbled as she rolled away. That _had_ to be cheating. She hopped to her feet and they began to circle one another on opposite sides of the room. The suspension that held the nomad blocked Sara’s view. When she rounded the structure, Jaal had disappeared.

_Fuck_. Cloaking _had_ to be cheating, right?

Sara tensed, ready to jump at the slightest shift in the air around her. The others were silent as well. She began counting down the seconds to when she knew his cloak would fall. The hair on the back of her next stood up and she rolled forward. Sara could easily detect Jaal’s bioelectricity if he was close enough to her.  The Angara cursed, circling her again. He was focused, sizing her up, looking for gaps in her defense. Sara gave him the same calculating stare, both slowly circling the room.

“You knew I was behind you.” Jaal stated absently. Through the tactical gaze, Sara spotted Jaal’s curiosity.

“Your bioelectricity was high enough to cause the small hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.”

Jaal chuckled, his stance slipping. “I suppose the thought of catching you did excite me. I’d forgotten to suppress it.”

Sara lunged at this opportunity. She dove in and swept at his legs with hers. He stumbled but didn’t fall. He grabbed for her, regaining his balance quickly. She ducked away and across the room. Angara have better balance than humans, it appears. He smirked at her and charged forward. She leapt backwards as much as she could before tripping over some cables. Jaal caught her by the arms and lifted her up. He readjusted his arms under her thighs, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist to keep balance. Sara felt her back press against the hard metal of some tech junk. The Angara pressed his body into hers. His face was smug and confident, no shame for the display in front of the rest of his teammates.

“Got you.”

“Are you trying to fight me or seduce me?” Sara breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Jaal hummed, leaning in to kiss her. “Why not both?”

“A charm offensive.” She whispered against his lips. “I like it.” She used her biotics to sweep some scrap metal underneath his feet, a force stronger than the sweep of her feet, strong enough to knock him backwards, onto the floor. She smirked at him, sitting up straight on his chest. “I prefer the surprise attack approach, myself.”

She felt his muscles tighten under her, preparing to roll over. Sara threw herself off of the Angara, rolling out of his reach and retreating to the other side of the room. Her escape didn’t wipe the smugness from Jaal’s face. He gestured at her with an invitation to come at him. His confidence both pissed her off and turned her on.

 Sara sprinted at Jaal and then feinting to the left, cloaking, and then running around Jaal to the right. Just as Ryder managed to get into position behind the Angara, an electrical field zapped her out of cloak and stunned her. She dropped to her knees, disoriented from the shock. It hadn’t really hurt but it did stun and confuse her. Right around the time she came to her senses, Jaal had gotten close enough to grab her wrists and pin her to the ground.

“You knew I was behind you.” Sara copied, trying to gather her surroundings. She struggled against his hold only to find that Angara apparently are _really_ strong. Stronger than humans, at least. Peebee began the countdown. She realized that perhaps he was trying to lure her in by intentionally lowering his guard.

Jaal hummed, half-shrugging. “I knew you were _around_ me. Biotics give similar feedback to Angaran bioelectricity.”

“Hm. Good to know.” Sara pushed Jaal off of her with her biotics, lifting him, with great difficulty, into the air. She stood, stumbling at first, before pushing him into the base of pole that raised the nomad, securing his wrists. Jaal growled deep in his chest. He had obviously thought he’d won. Sara leaned against the pole, almost touching him. “You know, you look good pinned up like this.” She winked. Jaal didn’t seem phased by her taunting, giving her an up and down with his eyes and smirking smugly.

Sara felt another electrical pulse, stronger than the last. Her vision blurred and she stumbled before being caught by a freed Jaal. She had seen Jaal stun his enemies with his bioelectricity before, channeling it through his Firaan, and then slitting their throats or severing their spine with a jab from the blade.  Sara had never been on the receiving end of an attack like this from Jaal. She felt dazed, like she was half asleep, but also there was a fear clawing at her brain in the distance. _Move!_ It screamed. _Get up! Move! Wake up!_

 When she could gather her surroundings again she was being held to the same pole by Jaal. “I could say the same for you, Darling One.” He purred. His hold was tighter than before. Ryder attempted to break lose with her biotics but found herself unable to concentrate long enough to gather any potent fields. They just crackled around her weakly before fizzling out. “I believe I win.” A smug smile played at his lips.

She noticed Peebee had already been counting down. _Shit._ She’d be hearing about this for weeks.

“…And ten!” Peebee exclaimed from the walkway above them. “Now that you guys are done with your weird foreplay maybe you can get a room?”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, nothing to get me all fired up like battle!” Jaal chuckled, letting her wrists fall from his grasp. She landed unsteadily on her feet, still a bit dizzy. Jaal steadied her, wrapping his arms around her small frame and planting kisses into her hair.

Drack shrugged. “It would work for a Krogan. I say there’s nothing sexier than a Krogan female covered in the blood of her enemies.” Sara did not want to think about Krogan kinks. She already knows too much about Krogan sex because of Lexi. Way too much.  

“The Angara also value strength, confidence, a dominating will.” Jaal brushed a hand across Sara’s cheek, trailing his fingers down her neck. “I suppose that our species are not so different in what we find attractive.”

“So, you won the fight, what do you want as a reward?” Sara turned her face into his palm, kissing it.

A pleased hum vibrated in his chest. “Sparring usually is not a contest with rewards; however, if you are offering…” Jaal kisses her lightly. “then I will have more of those human desserts you made me. The ones with chips of chocolate in them.”

Sara giggled. “Alright, big guy. I’ll make you more later when I get more contraband from my supplier.” She sent a wink Vetra’s way.

“It’ll cost you more than chores this time, Ryder.” The Turian quipped, exiting the room with the others.

Sara groaned. “Ugh. The things I do for love.” She leaned in to kiss Jaal but pulled back when he seemed to stiffen under her touch. Jaal’s face was a cocktail of emotions. He seemed shocked and happy and confused. She cupped his cheeks with her hands. “What’s wrong? Are you ok? Are you sick? Did I say something wrong?” Sara’s voice was hurried, rushed, frantic.

Jaal chuckled, snapping out of whatever shock he was caught in momentarily. He leaned in and kissed her with a passion, pulling her body flush against his. “I am fine, Darling One, my heart…” He whispered against her lips. “You said nothing wrong. I am just overjoyed.” Sara cocked her head to the side, a puzzled look on her face. Jaal realized suddenly that he was confusing her. “’The things I do for love’ you said. It is the first time I have heard you, well…”

Jaal was suddenly overcome with embarrassment. Blue tinted his cheeks and worked its way up his neck. Did she not intend for that to be a confession? Did she not mean to say that she loved him? A human idiom, perhaps? Some form of realization dawned on Sara’s face. He watched as her eyes grew wide and her face turned pink. But then her eyes softened and her lips twitched.

“I guess it is the first time I’ve really said it…” Sara averted her eyes from him and the red shade of her face deepened. “But it’s true, you know.” It seemed to take all of Sara’s strength to look Jaal in the eyes again. “I love you, Jaal.”

Jaal moved too fast for Sara to really register what was going on. Jaal’s mouth was on hers not moments after the words left her mouth. The Angara lifted her into his arms by her thighs and pressed her back into the suspension rod to steady her. She wrapped her legs around him and cupped his face in her palms, moaning into his mouth. The man kissed her with a hunger and Sara was _not_ complaining. Jaal’s body pressed into her, grinding.

“Sara…” Jaal growled her name when he broke from the kiss. “I want…” He looked away momentarily, embarrassed. When he focused his eyes on hers again there was a desire in them that made Sara melt in his arms. They were almost pleading, desperate. “Sara, I want to-.” An urgent beeping sound interrupted him, making him jump. Jaal’s previously dilated pupils contracted back into narrow slits. He almost dropped her in surprise.

_“Pathfinder, there is a message that was sent directly to your omni tool by Pathfinder Hayjer requesting you meet with him and the other Pathfinders in the Research Lab at Hydroponics.”_

Sara groaned, her head drooping onto Jaal’s shoulder. “SAM. I swear you wait to interrupt me at the good parts just to fuck with me.”

_“I would have no reason to do so, Pathfnder, though I have made a note to hold information that isn’t completely urgent from you while you and Jaal Ama Darav are initiating sexual activities.”_

Jaal could practically feel Sara’s face heat up against his neck. His lips twitched into a smirk at the knowledge this embarrassed her. “Just tell me what they want, SAM.”

_“I believe that the other Pathfinders have found a way to take Meridian without the help of Director Tann or the rest of Nexus Control.”_

Sara perked up, eyes wide as she pulled back to meet his gaze. “Jaal, I know we were having a thing here, and you were about to say something really important but-.”

Jaal silenced her with a quick peck to her lips before setting her down. “Go, my Darling One. We can have another ‘thing’ later.”

She smiled softly, standing on the tips of her toes to give him a small kiss before bouncing off in excitement. “I’ll make it up to you later, Jaal! I promise!”

_“Pathfinder, clothing would be beneficial to you before leaving the ship.”_

Jaal laughs when he sees Sara suddenly change course and gun down the hallway to get dressed. “Fuck. Right. Clothes. I need those.” On her return to the room, Sara kisses him again before heading out. “I’ll be back soon, Love.”

“I’ll be waiting, my heart. Stay strong.”

“And clear, Darling One.” Sara smiled into his lips when she felt his bioelectricity spike at her using his pet name for her. She left swiftly after, before the Angara could delay her with more _initiating_ of _sexual activities_.

This is the day that Jaal realized with a start that he had somehow fallen madly in love with the most beautiful, strong, and _wonderful_ alien in the galaxy. He turns from the cargo bay to return to the Tech Lab, already starting an email to his True Mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so holy shit I actually finally finished this one. Like I said I've gone back to work for the Summer and I don't have a lot of time to write anymore. When I do get home from work I'm grumpy, covered in dishwater and frying grease and tired. I usually can't focus on writing after work because of how tired I am. I've been slowly working on this chapter on my days off.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this one. Coming next: Pathfinder conspiracy meeting and a quick trip to Aya before heading off to take Meridian.


	11. Goodbye, Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara says goodbye to Scott. Scott learns that Sara isn't the only family he has left and that family doesn't have to be of the same species.
> 
> (A family doesn't have to be a mom and a dad, it can be a whole bunch of alien moms and a fuck ton of alien siblings and cousins.)

Scott was resting in the Pathfinder quarters of the Hyperion when Sara came bounding in with Jaal at her heels. He was propped up with a plethora of pillows and passively watching some Turian film, dozing. Scott jolted awake when his twin launched herself onto the bed, nearly throwing him off.

“Rise and shine Princess Scott.” She beamed at him.

Scott groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Don’t you know that Princesses need their beauty sleep.”

“We don’t have enough time in the world for sleep to make you beautiful.” She dumped a warm basket in his lap. “I brought gifts.”

“I’m the hot twin, Sara, so I’ve apparently had plenty.”

“Then quit your bitching and open the basket beauty queen.” She nudged him.

“I thought I was a princess?” The look that Sara gave him said not to press further.

“You’ve been promoted now open them before they get cold!”

A look of mock surprise filled Scott’s face. “Well if I’ve been promoted I’d like to take a moment to thank the academ-.” He flinched when Sara jabbed him playfully in the ribs. “Alright, all right. Opening the trojan horse now. But if you managed to fit a hundred tiny men in here, I just want to state how impressed I am before they jump out and kill me.”

“What is a horse?”

“Shhh, not now Jaal, I’ll tell you later!”

The first thing that hit Scott’s senses when he opened the basket was the aroma of chocolate. “No way.” His eyes flicked upwards to his sister’s grinning face and back down to the contents of the basket. Scott unwrapped the napkin that had been carefully folded to conceal his gift to reveal freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. He popped one in his mouth at once and moaned. “Grandpa Ryder’s famous chocolate chip cookies.” He hugged his sister close, giving her a light noogie before devouring another. “Where did you find the ingredients? Milk? Eggs? Sugar? I don’t think we have cows and chickens here in Andromeda yet, let alone soil good enough to plant the cane for sugar!”

Sara shrugged. “Well, you know, a girl makes do with what she has. You’d be surprised how well blood works as a substitute for eggs. But don’t worry, I’m clean! I haven’t contracted any weird alien viruses or whatever…I think…” She tried to contain her giggles when Scott’s face fell with a mouthful of two or three cookies. “Just joking! I have connection. Pathfinder connections. Connections that I may or may not owe my soul to in the future…”

“ _Vetra Nyx asked you for a favor, not your soul, Pathfinder_.”

“SAM, this is Vetra we’re talking about, I basically owe her my soul.”

Scott swallowed his mouthful. “Please tell me my sister didn’t make a deal with the space devil, Jaal.”

“What is a devil?”

“Charming demon from human folklore that cons people out of their souls.”

Jaal seemed to contemplate this for a moment. “She received the supplies from Vetra, not Reyes Vidal.”

“I keep hearing about this guy and now I want to meet him.”

“No, you don’t” Sara and Jaal replied at the same time.

“So, what’s the cookies for? Other than the fact that you love me and I’m your favorite brother.”

Sara hummed leaning into Scott’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t push your luck, Jaal’s brother, Lathoul is a complete sweetheart and he might be my new favorite.” Scott swatted at his sister playfully. “Kidding. Jaal wanted me to make him some of Grandpa’s cookies and I thought ‘hey, you know who would love some cookies? My twin who just woke up from a coma and has probably been fed mush from the med bay for the past few days.’”

Scott laughed, pushing the basket aside to eat more later. He was going to revel in this. “Harry would shit himself if he knew I was eating these. I’m supposed to be on a soft, near-liquid diet right now.” He took one of Sara’s hands in his own, squeezing it gently. “Thank you, sis. I haven’t had one of Grampa’s cookies since mom died. Dad tried to make them once or twice but they always came out burned or hard as a rock.”

“He was a fighter, not a baker.” A sad smile played at Sara’s lips. “When you’re better, after all this fucked up shit with the Kett and Meridian is finished, I want to take you to Havarl.”

“The Angara home world, right? What for?” Her brother wore a puzzled expression.

“I want you to meet someone.” She giggled a bit, pausing. “Actually, I want you to meet a whole bunch of people. Sahuna, Jaal’s mother, she gives the warmest hugs and tells the most embarrassing stories about Jaal. His tiny brothers and sisters are almost as curious as Jaal when we first met. And my _new favorite_ brother, Lathoul.”

Scott didn’t respond to the jab. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

Sara’s eyes refused to meet his for a moment. “Twin telepathy at it again.” An awkward laugh stumbled from her lips before promptly dying. Her attempt to lighten the mood faltered.

They had always been able to read each other like open books. Their body language was familiar to each other. Scott knew Sara hated goodbyes. She would stall until last minute, beat around the subject until she absolutely had to leave. As a child, Sara had used this tactic on their father when he was about to be deployed. She would ask for one more book read to her. One more piggy back ride. One more war story. One last kiss. One last hug. She would get frustrated, cry, beg, scream. But she only ever delayed the inevitable. She only ever made it worse for herself.

Sara sighed, finally looking her brother in the eyes. “We have to make a move on finding Meridian, Scott. Tann rejected my proposal but the other pathfinders have found a way to get past Kett defenses and into what we believe is Meridian.”

“So, Lexi lifted your medical leave?”

Sara made a face and her eyes darted to look away from his. “Not…exactly. I haven’t told her yet. We are making a stop in Aya to inform the Resistance of our push on Meridian so I have until then to convince her…”

Scott leaned back into the mound of pillows, running his hand through his hair and rubbing at his cheeks with his palms like her did when he was aggravated or worried. Then he sat up again, sighing. “Come back in one piece, ok?”

Sara blinked. “That’s it? No anger? No resentment?”

“I just want my sister to come back to me unharmed.” He shot a look to Jaal. “Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid and heroic while I’m not around? Without the Logic Twin around sometimes the Feelings Twin punches things that are five times her size in the face.” He remembers the night of Sara’s 21st birthday when she got drunk and into a bar fight with a Krogan on the Citadel. Her first alcohol and her first night in a C-Sec cell. He had to bail her out with dad. He was totally not checking out the cute Turian cop at the front desk. Totally.

Jaal laughed warmly. “I will try my best. But she _does_ love punching larger beings in the face.”

Sara stood from the bed groaning. “I punch a fiend _once_ and I’m _still_ getting shit for it.”

Scott sighed. “Ok, come back mostly in one piece. Both of you. And bring a hot Angara with you! Big, strong, maybe hard to get and with a cold personality but a big warm heart once you get to know him. And pretty eyes.”

Sara chuckled, kissing her twin on the forehead. “All Angara have beautiful eyes. I’ll try to find one. But it will be hard to find someone who is good enough for my baby brother.”

He pulled her in for a hug, burying his face into her shoulder. “Be safe, Sara.”

“My middle name is Safety. I’m the Safety Twin.”

Scott scoffed. “I know for a fact that your middle name is _not_ Safety. And also, you are _not_ the Safety Twin. You are the Danger Twin. You are the ‘goes out looking for alien ruins and trouble,’ twin.”

Sara gave him one last squeeze before parting. “See you, Scott. Get to feeling better by the time I get back, ok?”

“Bring me pictures! And cute boys.” He paused. “And pictures of cute boys.”

His sister couldn’t help but laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll get Sam to automatically scan and take pictures of all cute Angara on Aya and send them to you.”

“You are my favorite sister.”

Sara waved at him on her way out of the door, smiling. “I’m your only sister.”

Jaal began to make his way out of the room, following close behind Sara. “Wait up, Jaal. I have something for you!” The Angara turned to look at Scott, who was scrambling out of bed. He padded over to Jaal and began furiously typing at his Omni-tool. When he was finished, Jaal’s began to beep with an incoming transmission.

“What is this?”

Scott beamed. “I made a chat room for us to communicate when you and my sister are away. That way I know what she’s up to and I won’t have to worry she’s dead all the time.” He fidgeted with his hands. “I gave Sara one too, but I know she won’t tell me when she’s sick, or hurt. You’re right, I can’t be with her right now. She needs to know that I’m safe. But I need to know that she’s safe too. She’s…” The human’s eyes began to water. He rubbed at them with shaking hands. “She’s the only family I have left, Jaal. I can’t lose her too, ya’ know?”

Jaal wrapped Scott in his arms, patting him on his back lightly. “I will protect Sara with my own life. But Scott, she is not your only family anymore. You are my brother, my siblings are your siblings, my mothers are your mothers. They would dote on you as if you were their own blood.”

Scott sniffled. “You give good hugs. And better talks.”

A laugh rumbled in Jaal’s chest, shaking Scott. “So I’ve been told.”

The man pulled away, wiping at his eyes. “I also sent you some pictures and vids of Sara and I as kids. In human culture it is customary to show embarrassing photos of one’s kids and siblings to their mates. It would be offensive for me to not honor this tradition.”

Jaal couldn’t really tell if Scott was joking or not but decided to take it seriously to be on the safe side. “I will review them later, on our journey. I would not want to dishonor this human mating tradition.”

Scott’s lips twitch. He was trying to keep a straight face. “Yea. They are a great insight into human culture. Be sure to watch the ones labeled ‘Singing baby Sara’ while she’s in the room.”

Ah, joking it is, then. “That sounds _adorable_.”

“Oh trust me, it’s damned precious.”

Jaal clapped the human on the shoulder, turning to leave. “Stay strong and clear, brother.”

“Take care of yourself, Jaal.” Scott watched his new brother leave. He had only just met the man but he felt he could trust him with his life. With his sister’s life.

He hoped that trust wasn’t misplaced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised Aya next but I felt the flow would be weird if I had goodbyes and then Aya in the same chapter. I'll start writing on the next chapter on my next day off (Friday, I have a weird schedule where I work whenever people need me so my hours and days change every week. But thankfully I'm only working 3 days a week for the next 2 weeks, which means more time to write!)
> 
> As always, I appreciate all of the comments and Kudos! I'm getting a LOT more feedback than I thought I would with this garbage. Waking up and seeing how much you guys like this fic makes my day! 
> 
> I love you guys! Thanks for reading!


	12. Making Up For Lost Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa there, Pardner'! There be porn in these hills! 
> 
> Everything under the bold line is NSFW. Dim your phone screens. Lock your doors. Go incognito. I'm warning you.
> 
> Porn.
> 
> Lots a porn.
> 
> My first attempt at writing porn so it's not even good porn.
> 
> But it's still porn.
> 
> porn.

On the screen of Jaal’s Omni-tool, a little girl, a _human child_ , sat playing with reams of decorative paper and little bows. Her curly brown hair was done up in twin tails and covered in shiny, glittery ribbons. The girl’s deeper brown eyes were filled with wonder and amusement. When she grinned, her mouth opened to reveal two gaps where her front teeth would be. Somehow, Jaal found that to be adorable.

“Sara!” A voice called from off-screen. “Look at the camera, honey!”

The human child beamed up at the camera. “Santa came, Mommy!”

The woman holding the camera chuckled. “He sure did, sweetie. Why don’t you and your brother gather all the presents with your names on them and put them in a pile, ok?”

The video skips to Sara and Scott sitting side by side with mounds of presents in front of them. Brightly colored wrapping paper and shiny bows like the ones in Sara’s curly hair. Jaal remembers Sara telling him about this holiday that Human’s celebrate. Christmas. They give gifts to loved ones and cook lavish meals while surrounding themselves with close family and friends. It is a holiday mostly for children, who still believe in magic and have an untainted, hopeful view of the universe. Jaal would very much like to celebrate this holiday with Sara sometime. As well as many Angara holidays.

The door to the tech lab hissed behind him and he almost shut the video off. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and leaned in to kiss his cheek. He relaxed into her. “I knew Scott was up to something when you hung back to speak with him.”

Jaal let out a low, rumbling chuckle. “He said it is Human custom to give vids of childhood moments to a family member’s mate.”

“Of course, he did.” She nudged his thigh for him to move over and allow her to sit next to him. “This is from mine and Scott’s sixth Christmas. We went to Earth to visit Grandma and Grandpa and stay for a while. They had a beautiful house in the mountains. The snow covered the area like a blanket every Christmas.”  Sara smiled fondly, regarding her younger image in the vid. “We would go sledding every year. I knocked my front teeth out that winter from slamming head first into a tree.”

“Ah, a brilliant risk taker even in childhood?”

Sara hummed, amused, and kissed his shoulder, lifting his arm to climb under it. Jaal happily obliged. Sara had once told Jaal that Humans were not as free with touch as Angara; and yet, Sara never hesitated to touch him, even before he was her taoshay. Since they have come together in their relationship, grown closer, Jaal has leaned that Sara _loves_ to cuddle. She can barely stand _not_ touching him in some way when they are around each other. She takes great comfort in it. It is a very Angaran trait. He does not complain.

“A thrill seeker. A bit too much of my Dad in me, I guess.” On screen, the twins were both sitting on a man’s lap. Jaal noticed his face bore a striking resemblance to Sara and Scott’s. “During the fall, Dad and I would hike up the mountain. There was a beautiful waterfall on up where we would have a picnic. Sometimes Scott or Grandpa came along, but mostly it was just us. Alone.”

Sara reached up to input something in his Omni-tool. A new video began to play, one of an older, more recognizable Sara and a man that resembled her father but older. His hair was silver like Sara’s but more natural. Sara had once explained to him that human’s often loose pigment in their hair and skin with age. The man and Sara were walking up a trail surrounded by beautiful trees with leaves so many striking shades of red, orange and brown. The beauty of it almost brought Jaal to tears.

“This is Earth?” He breathed, taking it all in.

“Yep. Up on the mountain. In the fall.” Her thumb drew invisible patterns on his arm absently. “Most trees on Earth change colors with the seasons. In spring, some grow beautiful flowers that smell amazing. In the summer, the flowers fall off and leaves grow. In the fall, they begin to wilt as the trees go dormant, like they’re sleeping. And in the winter they shed their leaves and sleep until it’s warm enough to bud again.”

“It is beautiful. So many colors…”

She hummed, leaning her head against his shoulder and nuzzling it with her cheek. “Fall is the best season to hike in. The leaves changing in the mountains is breathtaking, Jaal. I wish I could take you there. I wish I could breathe in the scent of the falling leaves and hear them crunch beneath my feet. I wish I could listen to the bird song in the mountains and feel the sun on my skin.” Sara closed her eyes, as if imagining all the things she was describing to him. “There is so much I wish I could show you. So much I wish we could do together. I don’t regret coming here. I don’t regret leaving Earth, the Milky Way. I definitely don’t regret meeting you. But I regret not being able to share my planet and its beauty with you, as you’ve done with me.”

“Earth certainly seems like a wondrous place. Beautiful. Alien. A place I would have been honored to visit.” Jaal runs his hand through Sara’s hair. “Perhaps when we activate Meridian and the worlds are restored, we might visit a new Earth. Together.”

“Yea,” Sara shut down the vid and settled back into Jaal’s arms, breathing in his scent. “I’d like that.”

Jaal took one of her small hands in his, kissing it gently. “When we arrive on Aya and you have finished your business with Evfra, I wish for you to meet me outside of Headquarters.” He leaned his forehead against hers and brought her hand to his chest. “There is something I wish to show you.”

“Oooh, surprises!” She planted a quick kiss to his lips. “Do I get a hint?”

He hummed, returning her kiss and pulling her closer. “You will have to be patient.” There was a mischievous look in his eye that made Sara shiver. “As will I.”

“SAM.” Sara called out, her voice a bit shaky. “What is our ETA to Aya?”

_“One hour, 45 minutes and 50 seconds, Pathfinder.”_

“Ok, thanks.” Sara moved to straddle Jaal’s lap, and wrapped her hands around his neck. “Plenty of time for me to get you to talk.”

Jaal smirked at the challenge, his hands slowly sliding down to settle at Sara’s hips. The movement causes her to arch her back. “You are _very_ welcome to try, Darling One.” His words earn him a frustrated growl and Sara’s lips pressing into his with a needy roughness that he had come to expect from her when he teased her like this.

They are both determined to make good use of the time they have until their arrival on Aya.

* * *

 

Sara exited Resistance HQ hoping none of the Angara during the meeting noticed her swollen lips and the marks covering her neck that she tried hard to cover with her bulky headphones. At one point, she had sworn that Evfra’s lips twitched into a smug smirk, his eyes shooting her a knowing look. She didn’t like it and her face was red the entire meeting. When she was finally dismissed she sought Jaal out in the crowd of Angara Resistance fighters. Usually she’d be able to pick his blue Rofjinn out of a crowd no problem. Or his distinctive eyepiece. Or, to be honest, his _really_ nice ass. Few Angara have an ass as fine as Jaal’s. She would know. She’d checked.

But that’s beside the point.

Sara wondered outside of HQ and found Jaal in his usual spot overlooking Aya. It was the best view in all of Aya. You could see the jungles below and the volcanos in the distance. The perpetual twisters and smoke defining the line where the vault didn’t exactly work as well. Jaal stood with his back to Sara, taking in the view; most likely in his own little world, consumed by his thoughts.

She walked slowly behind him, taking care to hide her biotic signature. Sara snaked her arms around his waist and leaned into his back. “Hey there, beautiful.” The Angara didn’t even stiffen, as if he’d been expecting her. “You come here often?”

Jaal chuckled, turning to face her. He drew her in for a quick kiss, ignoring the stares the two of them got from a group of Angara nearby. “Your flirting is nearly as bad as Scott’s. I see the family resemblance.”

Sara blew a raspberry. “My flirting worked on you. Swept you right off your feet.”

“I find your awkwardness endearing.”

Sara gave him another peck before grabbing his hands and leaning her forehead against his. “And I find your cluelessness, curiosity, your openness, intensity,” She pulled back, looking him in the eyes. “your body, voice, everything, to be _extremely_ attractive.”

In a rare moment of bashfulness, blue crept into Jaal’s face and neck. He quickly averted his eyes. “S-Sara.”

She hummed in amusement, kissing him on the cheek. “You know how I couldn’t tell you were blushing when we first met?” Jaal’s eyes flicked back to hers for a moment. Sara leaned in and stood on the tips of her toes to reach where she approximated the Angara equivalent of an ear was. “I can tell now.” The human bounced back on her heels and beamed at Jaal. “So, do I get to see what this surprise is now? Since I couldn’t pry anything out of you back on the Tempest?”

The flush was slowly draining from Jaal’s face and his eyes became more focused. A confident smirk began to grow from his mouth, erasing all evidence of his former embarrassment. “Follow me and I will show you.” He led her away from HQ and to a side path she had not wandered before; where the city was swift becoming less city and more jungle. It seemed to be a residential outskirts area as opposed to the markets Sara was used to.

At a certain point where Sara was sure that they weren’t in the city anymore and the path turned to dirt instead of stone, Jaal moved behind Sara and covered her eyes. “What? I’m not allowed to see where we’re going?”

Jaal chuckled behind her, his breath against her neck. “It would ruin the surprise.”

Sara groaned. “But it’s beautiful out here! It’s nothing like looking at it from the city!”

“The beauty is part of the surprise, Darling One. You may look all you want on the way back. Now keep walking. We are not far.”

Sara complied, grumbling. “Not far from what?”

“Do humans not have a word for surprise? Patience?” His voice seemed amused.

“We have both of those words and we don’t typically like either one!”

“I also find your aggravation endearing.”

“And I somehow even find your aggravating smugness attractive.” Sara sighed. Jaal just chuckled in response, urging her onward.

The air was perfumed with scents of flowers that Sara did not have a name for. The birdsong that echoed around her sounded almost like an Earth bird. If Sara concentrated hard enough she could almost pretend she was back on Earth, hiking in the woods during spring. The sun felt amazing against her bare skin. When visiting Aya, Sara often foregoes her jacket in favor of her Blasto tank and sports bra.

“Well, wherever we are, it smells like heaven.” Sara breathed, taking in the scent of the flowers. She could smell and hear water as well. One of Aya’s waterfalls, no doubt. “It reminds me of home, familiar but different. Alien.”

“Heaven?” Jaal chuckled. “Maybe it is. Take a look.” He halted their movement and removed his hands from Sara’s eyes. The light blinded Sara at first, her eyes having adjusted to being covered by Jaal’s large hands. When Sara was able to take in the scene before her she gasped. Life surrounded her. Plants, trees, flowers she had never seen. The beauty of Aya in the markets was nothing compared to the beauty of the jungle. The waterfall that she had heard before was bigger than she had initially assumed. It fed a pond of nearly-clear, sparkling water. Sara wondered how many underwater cave systems lurked beneath the waters. If volcanic heat fed it. A hot spring?

“How is this place not packed with people right now?”

Jaal hummed, his subvocals rumbling. “I have my ways.” He grasped her hand and began walking toward the edge of the pond. “Trust me, we won’t be disturbed.” His voice hinted at mischief.

Sara smiled, pulling Jaal close and kissing him. “Thanks. It’s a wonderful gift, Jaal.” Sara didn’t see the grin that spread on Jaal’s face when she turned to lead him to the water. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “Real air. Real sun. Fresh water.”

“This is my favorite place in the universe.” Jaal paused to take it all in before continuing. “Where is yours?”

“In the mountains on Earth, where my Grandparent’s lived. When it’s sunny and warm. The wind tousling your hair.”

“Well.” Jaal chuckled. “ _Your_ hair.”

The both laughed for a moment before settling into a brief silence. “This place _is_ special.”

“With you here it’s perfect.” Jaal turned Sara around to face him and drew her hand to his chest. “Beyond all reason, I’ve fallen in love with you, Sara.” His eyes flickered to the side for a moment before returning to meet hers. A flush started to make its way into Sara’s cheeks. “And I want…” He trailed off, clearing his throat. “Do you want to?”

It took Sara a moment to realize what he was talking about. His face was quickly turning purple and blue. When she got the implications, her face matched his with a brilliant red. “Yes!” she blurted, eager. “I mean, uh…” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “Yea, I-I’d like that, Jaal.”

Jaal’s lips twitched into a smile. “Come with me, into the water.”

Sara didn’t know exactly what to expect but one of the things that she definitely did not expect was Jaal to unbuckle his armor so fast that she could barely register it visually. Sara had tried to remove it for him several times in the past during more _heated_ moments, and could never figure the damn thing out. Too many buckles and buttons and the _thigh straps_. Dear lord, the man had beautiful thighs. She would get distracted trying to remove the straps and end up just touching his thighs. His thighs and his ass are certainly her most favorite features. Jaal stood with his back to her. Naked. His skin exposed to her. And his ass. God bless Jaal’s perfect ass.

“O-oh.” Sara swallowed hard, watching the man wade into the water until it was up to his hips. Add hips onto the list of perfect places on Jaal’s body. He extended a hand to her, smirking at her reaction to his state of undress. “Ok.”

Sara shakily pulled her tank over her head and kicked her shoes off. She tried not to look at Jaal. Tried not to look at the way his eyes roamed her body when she hooked her thumbs under the elastic of her pants and underwear, tugging them down. When she tossed her bra and headphones to the ground in a haphazard pile and slipped into the water, taking his still outstretched hand. The water was warm, almost like a bath. Despite the warmth, Sara trembled.

“You are more lovely than anyone I have ever known. In body and in spirit.” They both circled in the water. “Wherever you go, take me with you.”

“I love you too, Jaal.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Jaal scooped her up into a hug, spinning her. When she was in the water again his lips were on hers and his hands smoothing up her side. He lifted her again, urging her to hold onto him with her legs as he began to move them toward the waterfall. “Where-.”

“It’s a surprise.” Jaal grinned against her lips. “Brace yourself, Darling One.”

She was about to ask: ‘brace myself for what?’ but her answer came with the weight of the waterfall crashing over them. Sara yelped, clinging to Jaal tighter. They emerged on the other side of the fall. Sara’s now-wet hair clung to her face and Jaal brushed it away, laughing. He kissed her lips, her cheek, her forehead, her neck. Jaal grinned against her skin when he kissed her, happy, ecstatic, _in love_. Stars above, he loves her, he thinks to himself. There isn’t a part of this strange alien that he doesn’t love.

Her eyes, hair, skin, body. The way she laughs and smiles at him. Her fierceness in combat. Her quick wit and sarcasm. Her warmth and fondness toward him. Her light, sweet kisses that she bombards him with in the morning when they wake up next to one another. The way she seeks his body out in her sleep if he moves too far from her. The way she moaned when he kissed her. The way her legs tightened around his waist and she arched her back into his body.

Jaal lowered Sara to the ground, urging her to lay down. She didn’t hesitate to comply, pulling him down on top of her and claiming his lips again. As if she didn’t want to be apart from them for one second. He parts from her lips to kiss her neck, nipping his way down to her collarbone. She gasped when his kisses go lower to her breasts. Jaal took Sara’s nipple into his mouth, dragging his rough tongue across the hard bud while his thumb played at the other.

Sara whined, her nails digging into his shoulder. “Ja-al!” He traveled lower, leaving a trail of kisses and nips down her abdomen. Sara shook when she realized what he was doing. “Um, stuff down there might be d-different than Angara, so don’t be afraid to ask-.” She shuddered when he gently pulled her legs apart and began to rub her slick opening. “-questions…” She squeaked.

“I have done research.” He slowly pushed his index finger into her, relishing the noises she made in response. “I would not have gone into something like this blind.” He moved slowly, in and out. Stretching her entrance.

“I-I’m just saying, sometimes things can get confusing in medical diagrams and stuff. Hell, it took me forever to find my own...” She trailed off, red in the face and too embarrassed to finish her sentence. Jaal smirked, balancing on his elbow, and bringing his other hand to spread her lips apart. He maintained eye contact as he lowered his mouth to her clit and swirled his tongue around the sensitive bulb. Sara cried out, removing her hand from his head to cover her mouth. “Yep. That.” Her voice was shaking and muffled through her fingers.

Jaal took that as a sign to continue. Removing his index finger, Jaal carefully edged his fused fingers into her. Sara arched, raising her hips into the movements of his fingers and tongue. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. Judging by her needy moans and her erratic movement, he guessed she wouldn’t last much longer.

“J-Jaal. Stop for a moment… _Please_.” Sara rasped, weakly pushing at him.

He complied, a look of confusion and fear on his face. “What is wrong? Am I hurting you? Am I doing it wrong? Did I-.”

“No, no!” Sara sat up. “No, Jaal. You’re amazing.” She peppered his face with kisses to reassure him. “It’s just…I was close and…as good as it felt I kind of wanted to…” She averted her eyes, swallowing hard. “I’d be out of commission for about half an hour after so I want our first to be…….”

A smug grin replaced Jaal’s worried features. “You want me inside you.” He nipped at her neck. “Don’t you, Darling One?”

Sara shivered when Jaal whispered in her ear. The man’s voice was smooth as silk. His smugness could make Reyes blush. “Yes.” She rasped. “I-I mean, you might have to tell me what to do…I’ve never done any of this with a human let alone an Angara. But…. I guess…. how different can our…stuff…be, right?”

Ah yes. Jaal forgets that she is inexperienced. Nervous. Giddy. He can tell she is embarrassed of her lack of knowledge on the subject. He realized that while _he_ had done his research, she likely had not, and would have been too embarrassed to ask. Her face is red and she refuses to meet his eyes. To think that the confident, headstrong woman that destroys enemies on the battlefield and hopped onto his lap and kissed him so passionately mere hours ago could look like _this_ under his attentions. Jaal pulled away from Sara to shift his weight into a sitting position against the cave wall.

Sara followed his movements with her eyes and then froze when her eyes dipped below his waist. She cleared her throat. “That wasn’t there a few minutes ago…” Jaal smirked at the expression on the human’s face. Feeling confident, he reached down to stroke his own cock, watching as Sara followed the movement with her eyes. She bit her lip, transfixed.

Jaal chuckled, reaching to pull Sara into his lap. “You have seen me nude before, Sara, did you not automatically assume our…’stuff’ as you put it, was internal?”

“Right, retractable dongs. Shower. Noticed there wasn’t external… Stuff” Her face turned a deeper red when Jaal began to shake beneath her with laughter. “Not that I was checking you out that one time in the shower. Or that time in Liam’s room… I-I mean it’s good to know, ya’ know? It’s prettier than I imagined, what with the ridges and the bioluminescence and the... N-Not that I’ve imagined your junk before!”

Jaal pulled her forward in an embrace, kissing her. “I love you, Sara.” He was still chuckling. He had mentioned that he loved her awkwardness. Loved her use of humor to lighten a situation. Or in this situation, make it more awkward. Even this moment was dear to him. “Do not change.”

He silenced her with his lips before she could start another stuttering tangent. Jaal busied his hands with Sara’s breasts, teasing her nipples in slow, circular movements. Sara moved her trembling hand between them, gripping Jaal’s cock and pumping him slowly. It was slick against her palm. Alright. Natural lubrication. She could appreciate that. Breaking the kiss, Sara rose onto her knees to line herself up with Jaal. Slowly, she lowered herself onto him.

Jaal moaned into her neck, ceasing his attentions to her breasts and gripping her hips. It took so much strength not to pull her down onto him. To bury himself inside of her. To fuck her hard and long right there. Now he was the one trembling as she arched into him and moaned, taking him slowly, inch by inch. She rocked her hips and moved him in and out. The pace was slow at first, shaky and cautious. When she began to become accustomed to the feeling of him inside of her she quickened her thrusts, leaning against his body, and resting her head against his shoulder. Jaal moved to meet the movement of her hips, to match the pace she was setting for him.

Sara fluctuated between muttered obscenities, and other words Jaal’s translator couldn’t quite translate, to loud unintelligible cries. The only thing he was able to really understand was when she was moaning his name.

Her body shook between thrusts. Sara was riding him harder. Jaal could feel her beginning to clench around him. He could feel she was close to release. He wasn’t too far behind, himself. Sara brought herself down hard on his cock, crying out a string of curses mixed with repetitions of his name. Jaal quickened his pace as her walls spasmed, swiftly bringing his own release. His bioelectricity spiked inside of her, drawing more pleasure from her own orgasm.

“Sara!” He cried as his cock pulsed inside her. His cum filling her. “My heart, my love, my Darling One.” Jaal moaned. “My _Temptress_.” He kissed her, cupping her face in his hands.

“That was…” Sara trailed off, slumping against Jaal’s shoulder. She didn’t finish the thought, too preoccupied with catching her breath.

Jaal ran his fingers through her hair. “Amazing.” Sara hummed in agreement to his response, panting. “Was it everything that you’d hoped? That you’d imagined?”

“Fucking hell, Jaal.” She raised herself up shakily to look him in the eyes. “You have no idea how amazing you are.” Sara attempted to rise on her shaky knees. Jaal’s cock slid out of her and his seed ran down her thighs. She plopped back down, straddling his legs. “Was I ok?”

He smiled. “Yes, Darling One, you were wonderful.”

Sara leaned her forehead against Jaal’s and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I never would have thought it possible to love someone as much as I love you.”

Jaal’s bioelectricity spiked a bit before settling back into its usual pleasant and warm thrum. “I certainly never thought I would fall in love with an alien.”

“You’re the alien.” Sara quipped.

“Hmmm. You are.”

“No, you’re the alien.”

A growl rumbled in Jaal’s throat. At first Sara thought she had somehow offended him. Then he grabbed her by the ass and pulled her roughly against him, his mouth to her ear. “I want to _devour_ you.” He pulled back just enough to see Sara’s reaction. No matter how many times he’d seen the human blush, it was always an amusing sight. “In the best way.”

Sara swallowed. “A-Again?”

Jaal practically purred in response. “If you are able. I think you’ll find that Angara have exceptionally good stamina.” He relished the little reactions he got from her. She shivered in his arms. “Do you want me to _fuck_ you again, Sara?”

“Yes, please.” Her voice cracked. Jaal grinned, capturing Sara’s lips with his, his erection swiftly recovering from his earlier release.

He planned to make up for all the times they were interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me father, for I have sinned.
> 
> I'm not going to heaven.
> 
> I lost that right when I wrote this.


	13. The Pathfinder and Her Many Endearing Qualities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaal and Sara are love-struck idiots. Evfra is grumpy but passive-aggressively approves.

Sara took her time to enjoy the scenery on her way back from the grotto. The sun was setting and they were in no hurry to get back. Jaal and Sara walked at a languid pace, hand in hand. Sara carried her socks and shoes in her free hand, relishing the feeling of the warm dirt against her feet. As a child, her parents were hard pressed to get her to keep her shoes on outside. She loved the feeling of dewy grass, hot sand, dirt and even the burn of the summer pavement on earth against her feet. Shoes just dulled the feeling. Jaal had given her a strange look when she refused to put her shoes back on as well but he didn’t question her about it.

As the sun sunk lower in the sky, Sara had the chance to truly appreciate the bioluminescence of the plants surrounding her. It was nearly always raining during the day on Havarl, so she’d gotten to see the strange glow flora there, but the weather on Aya was always sunny and Sara had hardly ever been on Aya after dark. Jaal was pointing out some of his favorite flowers, giving Sara the names of them in thick Shelesh.

The Human could listen to him talk all night.

Sara had not been lying when she admitted to finding his voice attractive. His thick accent and subvocals had attracted her when they first met. He also had other…assets. She had also found him physically attractive at the time, if not intimidating. When Jaal make the threat to kill her in her sleep she knew well and good he probably could break her in two over his knee. Sure, Sara’s short and thin for a Human, but next to a tall Angara male like Jaal, she looked absolutely tiny.

And yet he had only ever been gentle touching her. He even restrained himself sparring so as not to hurt her. Sara often wondered whether Jaal ever thought back to the way they interacted those first few days. If he ever thought about how much they distrusted each other, how uncomfortable they were with sharing information or how awkward their first conversations were.

When Jaal used his bioelectricity around her it was always controlled. Even that was gentle. What would their sparring match have been like if they had fought in those early days? Sara suspected that he would have still kicked her ass.

“Something on your mind, dearest?”

Sara snapped out of her thoughts for a moment at Jaal’s inquiry. “Yea, just thinking about how different everything is now, compared to when I landed here the first time.”

Jaal hummed in amusement. “On fire.”

She laughed, giving his hand a squeeze. “Unannounced and uninvited. Still totally not part of the plan, but hey, I’ve discovered one of the main talents of a Pathfinder is to improvise.”

“I certainly did not think I would be in love with the alien that crash landed on my planet that day.” Jaal mused.

“Or having sex with her.” Sara added.

“Yes. Both very _pleasant_ outcomes.” The Angara purred. “I was sure Evfra would have had me kill you that day. I am…relieved it never came to that.”

“You know, I seriously thought you were going to kill me those first few nights.” Sara chuckled. “I had SAM lock my doors at night when I went to sleep. I also piled all of my stuffed animals against the door so that you’d trip over them and wake me up if you got past SAM. Still would have died but I would have seen you confused and laying in a pile of stuffed animals in my floor and that’s an imagine I would have gladly taken with me into the afterlife.”

“I intimidated you.” He stated. “I am not proud at how I acted around you those days. I was cold, distant. I was ordered to be cautious.”

“You’re not very good at being cautious.”

Jaal made that raspy giggly sound in his throat that Sara always thought was especially adorable. “No. I never was. Before long you had broken down every wall I tried to put up.”

“You’re not very good at building walls, either.”

“Hmm. Perhaps not. But you aren’t very proficient in it either.” Jaal stopped walking, turning to face Sara. “Dearest, if I may, you had no reason to trust me when we first met. And yet, you offered personal information to me about your species and yourself at every corner in order to gain my trust. Why, when I was closed to you, when I did not divulge any information about myself or my people?”

She looked away for a moment, he brow furrowed and her teeth pulling at her lower lip in embarrassment. “At first it was to get at the vault in Aya. I was afraid of letting the Initiative down. Of people starving and dying because I was too awkward to gain the trust of the only people who could help us.” Her eyes flicked back to hold his gaze. “Then I got to know you, to know your people. I felt anger, sadness, helplessness when I looked at what you had gone through. When we activated that first vault on Havarl, how happy everyone was, how happy _you_ were that we had saved the Angara homeworld. It stopped being about the vault.”

“I had noticed you showed up more frequently in the tech lab after Havarl.”

Sara’s face turned a lovely shade of pink in the dim light of the setting sun. “It wasn’t _completely_ about just helping, either.” Jaal raised a brow questioningly at her. She began to rub her finger and thumb together in a nervous pattern in Jaal’s hand as she did when she was anxious. “At first you _did_ intimidate me, so I stayed away from you. Then I discovered that I liked talking to you. A lot. You didn’t even have to say anything, I _loved_ explaining regular Human stuff to you. I _loved_ your questions and reactions and…” Sara faltered. “your curiosity… I didn’t really know why until Peebee started talking about whether it would be possible for an Asari and an Angara to mate. Then she asked me if she should go after you? My biotics flared and nearly short-circuited the research lab.”

“I do not understand…”

Sara groaned, dropping her shoes in the dirt and raking her free hand through her hair in frustration. “I had heard from some women on Aya you were dense but this is…” She sucked in a breath and cupped his face in both of her hands. “I had a huge crush on you for months, you idiot.” Jaal just blinked at her when she pulled away. “I mean, how could I not? You’re just so open, and honest and adorable and…perfect. I denied it for a while because I thought you were going to leave once we rescued the Moshae. And then you stayed.” The Human was pacing, her words coming out almost too fast for Jaal’s translator. “I was so _happy_ , Jaal. I made you those cookies and we sat and talked and I’ve never been so open with a person in my life. Then you took my hand and you looked into my eyes and…”

Jaal reached out to stop Sara’s pacing. “You’ve had feelings for me for that long?”

Her eyes seemed to focus everywhere but Jaal’s face. “I was too shy to confront you about it. I was afraid of being rejected. Of driving you away. What if I mistook your flirting for Angaran friendliness? What if I thought those longing looks you sent at me were something and they weren’t? The only way I was able to confess to you was when I was drunk and Reyes gave me a pep talk about how I should just go for it. And even that was vague and awkward as hell.”

“Darling one…” Jaal felt his lips twitch into a warm smile. “I was afraid I was misinterpreting your signals, as well.”

Sara laughed, relaxing into his grip, and resting her head against his shoulder. “We’re a bunch of idiots, aren’t we?”

 He wrapped his arms around his Taoshay, kissing her hair. “The worst.”

“I was starting to think a pack of wild adhi had eaten the pair of you.”

The crass voice of the Resistance leader interrupted their moment. Jaal and Sara turned to see Evfra walking towards them. Sara wrapped an arm around Jaal’s waist and feigned disinterest in Evfra’s sudden arrival. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Evfra.”

The man scoffed and waved her off. “If only I’d be so lucky. It seems I’m stuck with you being around.” His usually stoic expression softened when he looked to Jaal. “That is, if everything went well?”

Jaal beamed in response. “It went splendidly! Humans and Angara are not so different in regard to their reproductive-.”

Sara swatted at his arm. “Jaal!”

“Ah, yes. I’ve forgotten humans do not like to talk about their sexual experiences with other people. I will inform you later, Evfra.” This earned Jaal another swat and a very disgruntled look from Sara.

Evfra looked unimpressed. Jaal could see the man was trying not to smile, the corners of his mouth twitching with and effort to conceal his emotions. He _was_ happy for them. He just wouldn’t admit it. He was stubborn and much more like a Human in his pride than Jaal knew the older man would ever admit. His history with the Kett had hardened him, like it had Akksul and many Angara before him. Jaal was accustomed to reading Evfra when he got like this. However distrustful he was of Sara, he noticed he had become almost fond of her. If anything, she was more like an annoying sibling or cousin who pesters him endlessly. Not quite friends but not quite strangers.

“You fools are made for each other.” The older Angara snorted, a thin smile appearing in his features. “I came to check up on you and insure you didn’t get lost. I also had a few questions to ask of you, Pathfinder.”

“If you’re asking for details about human reproduction you can forget it. Jaal’s mothers keep pestering me about it too and I direct all of their questions to Lexi.”

Jaal groaned. “Why am I not surprised?”

“It’s mostly Sahuna.” Sara responded. “She also asked me how to make pie. I suspect, from her email, it was not successful. We’ll have Scott taste it first and see if it’s harmful.”

Evfra cleared his throat to gain back their attention. He gestured his head as if to imply perhaps they should start walking back to the city. “I was more inclining to ask about something a little less _personal_.” He replied in a disapproving tone. “Jaal was telling me earlier of your sparring together. He tells me that biotics are a sight to see in combat. Some of the newer recruits are eager for a demonstration.”

“I’ve already fought Jaal today, Evfra. And I’ve been in other…physically strenuous activities since.” Sara whined. She thought she heard Evfra mumbled ‘I’m sure you have’ or the equivalent under his breath but she brushed it off, bending down to slide her socks and shoes back on before entering the city. “Can’t I kick your troops’ collective asses some other day? I’ve got to be in peak form when I’m kicking the Kett out of Khi Tasira tomorrow.”

Evfra scoffed at her, quirking a brow with a smirk on his lips. “Who said you’d be fighting my troops, Ryder?”

“Don’t tempt me Evfra, I’ve wanted to kick your ass since the day I met you.” Sara chided back.

“Your arrogance really knows no bounds.” He made an effort to seem annoyed despite his amusement at her remark. “And the feeling is mutual.”

Sara grinned at him, straightening up. “Ok, I’ll do it. But under one condition. I have a project back on the tempest I’ve been tinkering with for a while now and I’ve been _really_ excited to try it out.”

“Might I ask what this invention is?”

“You may not.” Sara responded, planting a kiss on Jaal’s lips and bounding off into the city. “I’ll meet you guys back at HQ!”

Evfra just shook his head as he and his friend watched her run off. “Such an arrogant woman.”

Jaal laughed, clapping Evfra on the back. “She is a wonder.”

“She is more open than the others, it is easy to read her emotions. She wears them proudly on her face.” The older man sighed. “You love each other. You make each other happy. She makes _you_ happy. While I may not trust the Human yet, I trust your judgement.”

Evfra regrets his words when he is pulled into a hug by Jaal. At first, he fights against it before settling in to hang limply in his arms, grumbling. “Your approval means more to me than you know, brother.”

“Skutting stars, Jaal. We are not siblings. Nor are you a child. Stop acting like one.”

Jaal only chuckled in response, releasing Evfra and walking off wordlessly into the city, unbothered by his friend’s chiding. Evfra followed behind, glad for the darkness so that Jaal could not see the darkening hue of his blue face. Jaal had been a hopeless idiot since the day the two of them met. He was not surprised when the man had asked to accompany the Pathfinder on her mission. The fool often looked to the stars, talking about how there might be more than just the Kett out there. Maybe someone will come to help. He dreamed of life beyond the stars like a child. He was not even impressed by his staying with Ryder on the Tempest instead of coming home to Aya for reassignment.

The day that Ryder and her crew landed on Aya, Jaal was afraid, as were they all. They had aliens invade their world before. Bringing with them promises of great things. And then they had stolen their people. Exalted them. Turning them into monsters. Regardless of this there was a hope still in the back of Jaal’s mind. He was excited.

 It had turned out he was right. Sara Ryder had done her best to help his people. Evfra had overheard their conversation. ‘At first it was to get at the vault in Aya.’ She had admitted to Jaal. ‘Then I got to know you, to know your people. I felt anger, sadness, helplessness when I looked at what you had gone through.’ The fools _were_ perfect for each other. The two of them open, bleeding hearts. Even for an Angara Jaal was more compassionate and kind and he just _felt_ so strongly. He developed strong attachments _fast_. And it seemed Ryder did as well.

When Jaal and Evfra arrived back at HQ Sara was already waiting for them. She sat on a bench fiddling with some sort of device in her hands. When she saw them approach she jumped up, beaming. “Took you two long enough! I was starting to think _you_ got eaten by a pack of wild adhi.” She threw her arms around Jaal’s neck, standing on the tips of her toes to kiss him.

“You won’t be rid of me that easily, Pathfinder.” Evfra mocked.

“That’s good, considering I have no one else to test this device on.” She held up what seemed to be an earpiece. “It’s a biotic modifier. I’ve been working on it for a while now. It interacts with my implant and allows for better control of my biotics.” She fastened the device to her ear, clamping it in place. “I’ve also modified it for another purpose, but you’ll see that soon enough.”

With this vague threat, Sara turned to walk into HQ. She knew where the training grounds were. She’d visited them after they could enter HQ again. After she had saved the Moshae and returned her to her people. She would watch the troops train. Cora would often visit as well during their visits. She didn’t check to see if Evfra and Jaal followed. She knew they would.

When she made it to the training room she could see the recruits already waiting for them. They spoke in hushed whispers when she entered. Sara smiled at them and waved. This only caused them to eye her warily and whisper even more. _Rude_.

“Recruits.” Evfra’s voice echoed in the small arena. The Angara that were gossiping before silenced and stood up straight when he entered. Sara got a bit of satisfaction at seeing them sweat. “Pathfinder Ryder has agreed to give a demonstration of her biotic capabilities. Be attentive, you never know if you’ll have to fight with or against a biotic in the field.” He unfastened his Rofjinn and folded it, setting it aside on a table before stepping onto the arena floor.

“SAM, switch profile to maximize biotic capabilities.” Sara commanded, feeling the change overcome her senses as soon as it left her lips. It always gave her a bit of a rush when she felt SAM enhance her biotics. “How are the diagnostics for the conductor coming along?”

_“All systems seem to be operational, Sara. Though I advise against overuse of the conductor as it is still in the testing phase. I can not predict what harm might come to you if the implant you designed does not hold.”_

Jaal regarded her with a puzzled expression. “What is this device, this conductor? I have not seen you working on anything in the tech lab.”

Sara just winked at him before pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail and pulling off her tank. She tossed it to Jaal, who caught it with ease. “I was working on it as a surprise. It was initially going to be non-combative, but then our sparring earlier gave me an idea as to how I could use it in the field.” She moved closer to him to give him a kiss. Jaal noticed something was off about the thrum of her biotics. It didn’t feel the same to him. What was usually a barely noticeable energy beneath Sara’s skin was now much more intense. It was almost like…

“Sara…I can feel…” He trailed off, a smile forming on his lips. Sara winked at him again, planting another quick peck before turning to step into the arena. Here expression read ‘ _don’t say anything.’_ Jaal just smiled after her, a dreamy look on his face.

“So, what do you want me to demonstrate first, Evfra? Pick something up with my mind? Make a barrier? Jump off something really high and slow my fall? Stop a bullet?” Sara stretched. Everything from her voice to her movements communicated arrogance. She was taunting Evfra, much like she taunted Jaal but without the flirting.

Evfra scoffed in response to her taunting. “You’ve lost to one Angara today, Ryder. What makes you think you can best an Angara several years his senior.”

“Three years, Evfra.” Jaal grumbled.

The human smirked at him. “Who’s arrogant, now? I may have lost to Jaal but he had an advantage in that fight.”

“And what would that be?”

“I didn’t want to hurt _him_.” She rolled her shoulders, loosening the muscle. “You, however, are just a little bit more _punchable_.”

Evfra rolled his eyes. “Just ready yourself, alien.”

“I’m ready when you are.” Sara grinned. “Alien.”

The Angara wasted no time in charging at Sara. She waited until he was close enough to touch her before propelling herself sideways with her biotics. She leapt into the air and brought herself down hard, shaking the ground and staggering Evfra. Her biotic field protected her body from the harm of the impact. Sara swept at Evfra’s feet with her legs but he dodged in time before she landed the hit. He kicked out and struck Sara in the face, sending her backwards.

She threw up a shield in time to catch Evfra before he could strict while she was down. Blood trickled from her nose. It wasn’t broken, but Lexi was still going to have a fit over it. She stood, dropping the barrier, and jumping over Evfra, cloaking midair and twisting to land on her feet behind him. While muffling her movement, the cloak failed to hide the dust she kicked up in her landing.

The man spun around to see the dust cloud and struck out accordingly. Her cloak fell and his fist impacted with another biotic shield. Sara pulled a chair from the side of the room and flung it at Evfra, giving her enough time to drop her shield and distance herself from him. The Angara man attempted to dodge but it still caught him in his side, knocking him down. Sara took this opportunity to bind him to the ground with her biotics. He struggled against it and the force of it physically drained Ryder.

“Stars, you Angara are fucking heavy.” She panted, attempting to keep her hold on Evfra. “You’re lighter than Jaal but still. Even with the amplifier you guys are hard to hold down.”

Evfra growled in response. Electricity built against the bonds, straining Sara’s control. She stumbled when her hold broke, giving Evfra enough time to leap up and swipe at Sara’s feet, knocking her to the ground. She struggled to throw up her shield before he could reach her but failed. Her biotics fizzled.

“Jaal spoke higher of your combat abilities than you have demonstrated.” Evfra crackled with bioelectricity. “I had expected better from you, Pathfinder.”

Sara laughed at him. “Why don’t you come say that to my face?”

“Even in defeat your arrogance is outstanding.” He spat, annoyed. “How Jaal suffers this is beyond me.”

“I think he finds it endearing.” She sent a biotic wave of energy out, tinged with an electrical field generated by her secondary implant. It knocked Evfra to the ground and momentarily stunned him; half with impact and half with confusion. Humans shouldn’t have enough bioelectricity to be able to weaponize it. Unless…

Sara was standing over him, a smug grin on her face and a hand outstretched. “I had heard of how resourceful humans are in battle.” He gripped her hand and tugged her down, rolling over to pin her. “Are all humans as trusting as you, or are you an exception?”

“I would ask if all Angara are as angry as you all the time, but I know they’re not.” She swiftly butted him in the head. Evfra winced and Sara pooled biotics in her legs, kicking him off her. He flew a little too high in the air and Sara caught him with her biotics before he hit the ground.  “How’s that for resourceful?”

In a rare moment, Evfra actually smiled. “Impressive.”

“A smile? And a compliment!” Sara sat him down gently. “Who are you and what have you done with the grumpy Evfra we all know and love?”

He grunted at her. “Humans do not have bioelectric capabilities. How did you manage to simulate this?” He grabbed her arm roughly, feeling the charge under her skin. It jumped with physical contact. An emotional response. Like an Angara.

Sara fought the urge to wrench her hand from his grip. She shot a quick glance to Jaal, who was watching with an amused expression on his face. “I made a biotic implant…well, SAM came up with the schematics, but I put it together.” She pushed some stray hairs away from her neck, showing a red, irritated mark. “I ran back to the Tempest to install it. Painless. More of a pinch than anything. I would have done it sooner, ya’ know, to test, but we were so…busy.”

“You intended to weaponize out abilities?”

Sara paled. “N-no. I made it for…different purposes.” She refused to meet Evfra’s eyes. “I wanted to be able to communicate with Jaal on the same level he would with an Angara. I only recently thought I could use it to lessen the disorienting effects of being zapped by Angara electricity. It stuns me and leave me vulnerable for attacks. I could also use it to stun enemies. But its purpose has always been harmless.”

Jaal slid between them. “Evfra. I do not believe she meant any harm from this.”

Evfra softened, dropping Sara’s arm. “I know, Jaal. I felt her energy, she was not lying. But what if her people weaponize this? Turn it against us? I do not trust the Initiative.”

“No one else knows about the implant.” Sara interrupted. “SAM and I are the only ones. And now you. I don’t intend for anyone else to know about it.”

He sighed, rubbing at his crest. “See to it that the Initiative doesn’t find out. While you have earned our trust, _they_ have not.” Sara understood. Recently, she was finding the Initiative to be untrustworthy as well. “And send me the blueprints for the device, as well as this amplifier. It is impressive. With work, perhaps we can use it to amplify our bioelectric fields.”

“Two compliments, Evfra? In one day?” Sara winked at him, causing the older man to roll his eyes. “Keep this up and I might get the impression you like me. Dare I even consider, as a friend?”

“You are infuriating. Is it a human trait to spoil everything with their sarcasm and attempt at wit?”

Jaal chuckled, pulling Sara closer to his side, feeling the energy pulse beneath her skin. “It is one of her endearing traits.”

“You find everything about her to be endearing.” Evfra grumbled.

“This is true.”

Evfra returned his attention to his recruits, who had started to whisper again. He barked orders at them, ignoring Jaal and Sara. Jaal nudged Sara and gestured for them to leave. They quietly exited HQ and began their slow journey to the Tempest, still enjoying the cool night breeze of Aya. Only a few Angara are present outside. In the market, there were only those who were closing shop for the day. Aya is quiet. Serene. It is unlike the bustle of the daytime crowds. They were both reluctant to step aboard the Tempest.

The ship was sleeping. No one was out when they stepped aboard. They made their way to Sara’s room. It was kind of both their room by now. Jaal slept there more nights than not. He enjoyed being close to Sara. Sleeping next to her. Sara had even gotten used to his snoring, which was annoying at first. She had never formally asked him to move in. His stuff just kind of kept building in the room. He’d leave changes of clothes for convenience. Her closet was a jumbled mess of small human and large Angaran clothing.  His lotions and salves littered her counter space, next to her makeup and various hair products. Jaal’s rifle had a semi-permanent resting place on Sara’s couch. His mods and other gear was often strewn all over her coffee table. In addition to the bottles of Human alcohol on the side table in her sitting area, Jaal had added some Tavum and other Angaran spirits.

He seldom ever slept in the tech room anymore, save for when he was up late working on a project. He supposed it _was_ their room now.  

“He likes me.” Sara beamed. She intertwined what fingers she could fit with his. She kicked off her shoes and dragged Jaal onto the bed with her. “Evfra, that it.”

Jaal smiled softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “He does. Do not tease him for it. This is a big step for him.”

Sara hummed, kissing his cheek. She shed her clothes and tossed them to the floor before climbing under the thin sheets and a combination of her heavy quilts and fluffy blanket and his hand-sewn blankets. She patted the bed beside her. “I’ll try not to tease him. But you know how much I love to tease.”

Jaal unbuckled the many straps of his armor. He noticed Sara’s eyes roaming his body as he stripped. He made an effort of removing it slower than he had earlier. He crawled onto the bed, his body hovering over hers. “I am well aware of how fond you are of teasing.” Jaal pressed his lips to Sara’s, relishing the feeling of her electricity spiking and spilling forth into his body. “You did this for me.” It wasn’t a question. He was more marveling in her invention than asking. He could feel her love for him radiating from her body. He could feel her desire.

“I did.” She reached up to cup his face. “I wanted you to feel everything. I wanted you to feel what you would if…”

Jaal sighed, leaning down to press his lips to Sara’s forehead. “If you were an Angara woman.” He finished her sentence. “You worry that I am not getting all that I would from this relationship if you were Angara.” Sara did not answer, but the admittance was in her eyes. “Sara. I find no part of this relationship lacking. Even without this feeling, without this nonverbal communication between our bodies, I love you. I can not think of being with anyone other than you.”

Sara pulled him forward into her arms, touching her forehead to his. “Whatever Angaran love spell you have me under, don’t stop.”

“It is you who has me under a spell, Temptress.” He kissed a line down Sara’s neck. Jaal took in her scent. He loved the way her pulse jumped under her warm, soft skin. “You have me enthralled in your beauty. Your love, bravery and compassion.” His kisses trailed down Sara’s chest, lingering where the sheets covered the rest of her body. He looked up to meet her eyes. “I am yours.”

A giggle rose from Sara’s throat, despite the situation. “Are all Angara this insatiable or is it just you?”

Jaal nipped at her neck. “I cannot help but imagine what you would feel like in the throes of passion. The energy beneath your skin washing over me in waves of ecstasy.”

The electricity in Sara spiked. “You fucker.” She breathed, leaning into his body. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”

“Are all Humans so perceptive?” He mocked, tugging the sheets down and letting his mouth roam further. Jaal felt her arousal. Any witticisms Sara possible thought up immediately died on her lips.

Jaal was curious as to how her invention would feel when he was inside of her. He was looking forward to finding out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been good at writing fight scenes. I struggled with this one in particular for a while. I mostly had trouble writing Evfra. The grumpy idiot is hard to write.
> 
> I really enjoy writing these idiots flirting with each other. Fluff gives me life. 
> 
> Jaal is a cute, cuddly space cat-squid that loves his S/O and finds their every quality adorable.


	14. Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexi and Sara have a heart-to-heart. Jaal and Sara deal with their findings at Khi Tasira.

Sara finds herself outside of the techlab for the first time in a while. With Jaal living in her room, with her, sleeping with her, modding weapons with her, neither of them had spent much time in Jaal’s old room. Most of his stuff was now in the Pathfinder’s quarters. Jaal only ever really went to the techlab if he wanted to be alone. Or to hide things from her. He had hidden in there for a day once to sew a Rofjinn for Liam and Sara. Jaal begged SAM to lock the door and not allow Sara access. Surprisingly the AI complied.

The Angara had been visibly shaken since their journey to Khi Tasira. They had snuck into the compound, an abandoned Remnant city filled with technological wonders, plagued with the scourge, and crawling with Kett. They had learned so much from the city. The Jardaan, the creators of the Remnant and the terraforming network had been a part of some war. The detonation of some kind of weapon triggered the scourge, screwing up the network and leading to the steady decline of the golden worlds.

With all that they had learned, they still had not knowledge of Meridian’s whereabouts. The Jardaan had hidden it away in an effort to protect it before setting off the scourge. With the growth and development of the scourge it was almost impossible to locate Meridian on its trajectory path through space. It might take weeks, months, even years of studying the scourge before any data lead to the path to Meridian.

The most unsettling news was of the Angara’s origins. While activating Khi Tasira, Jaal, Peebee and Sara had wandered into a room lined with stasis pods. In the pods were thousands of Angara. They seemed to be asleep. Jaal panicked.

“SAM, Sara.” His voice was shaking, full of fear. “We have to save them. We have to get them out of here.”

_‘I am afraid that is not possible, Jaal.’_ The AI spoke calmly, trying to soothe Jaal. _‘They are not alive, a rough translation of the language labels them as genetic templates.’_

“They were…experimenting on Angara…creating them…”

When they fought the Kett, Jaal seemed to be going through a mechanical process as he fired. He was focused on the fight, yes, but his mind was also drifting other places. She glanced over to see a far-off expression on the man’s usually expressive visage. The discovery weighed on his mind. He was contemplating what it meant. What he felt.

He beelined his way to the techlab as soon as they had returned from Khi Tasira. Sara _was_ hot on his heels before Lexi pulled her aside to lecture her and treat the plethora of scrapes, cuts and mottled bruises that covered her body.

“I told you one week of rest, Ryder!” The Asari fumed. “Not only can you not go one day without fighting something bigger than you, and yes, I am talking about Jaal and Evfra, but you also go _behind my back_ and plan out an entire mission against Kett _and_ Remnant without even getting my clearance.”

Sara suffered the Asari’s poking and prodding at her body, extensive scans and the doctor practically tearing her armor off to inspect and treat her injuries. She hissed when Lexi slathered her with cold medigel. While it certainly helped, Sara had always been particularly sensitive to the cold. “I’m fine, Lexi.” Sara sighed. “The only thing hurt is my pride, honestly.”

“You punched a fiend in the face.”

“Two fiends, and I’m fine, Jaal took it out before it could chew me up too bad.”

Lexi glared at her, wrapping the bite wound on Sara’s forearm from said fiend. “You reckless, arrogant-.”

“Foolish, selfish, self-absorbed and curiously attractive human?” Sara winked at the doctor, hoping to lighten the mood. Lexi wound the bandage around Sara’s arm tight enough to cut blood flow.

“Bed rest. A week of it. Starting today.” She snipped the bandage and fastened it. “I don’t care if you get results from the scourge and find Meridian in the next hour, it’ll still be there when you’ve rested.”

Ryder pulled her arm from Lexi, standing. “I _have_ to find Meridian, Lexi! The Initiative, the Angara,” She paced, throwing her arms into wild gestures. “hell, even the fucking exiles are all counting on me to get this terraforming network up and running! Our people are _starving_!”

“You think I don’t know this?” Lexi snarled at her, tossing the bandages down on the infirmary bed. “You think I don’t know how important it is that we find Meridian? That we beat the Kett and raise planetary viability? Ryder….Sara...” The Asari halted Sara in her pacing, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders and forcing her to meet her gaze. “You are faced with an incredible burden. I understand this. We _all_ understand this. But you are running yourself ragged. SAM enhances your biology a great amount, but even that has to run out sometime.” Sara was taken aback by how truly _afraid_ Lexi seemed. So vulnerable. “You can’t help anyone if you’re dead. We need you alive. All of us.”

She thinks of Jaal for a moment. How he looked at her on the Archon’s ship. How afraid he was. He had seen her die once and she really didn’t want to put him through that again.

“But the Archon. If he gets his hands on Meridian…”

“If you don’t know where Meridian is than neither does he. A week of rest will not kill you, Sara. Nor will it anyone else.” She gave the human a gentle squeeze. “Just don’t do this again. I worry enough about you without you sneaking around my back trying to kill yourself.”

Sara visibly relaxed. Her form went from ridged and anxious to a sunken tiredness that had been several days trying to catch up with her. “One week. Bedrest. Got it.”

“Good.” Lexi patted her on the cheek. “Also, Jaal told me about your trip to Aya.” _Right, because of course he would._ As your doctor, I would like details so we can keep your injuries to a minimum. I would also like to know for strictly scientific reasons.”

Ryder’s face cracked into a suspicious grin. She attempted to stifle her laugher with her hand. “Right. I’ll check with Jaal but I’m sure he’ll be ok with it as long as it’s for _science_.”

Lexi seemed to be holding back a smirk of her own. “Of course. Purely academic. Dismissed” She picked up a datapad and began to log something, probably updating Sara’s medical profile. Sara turned to leave. “Ah, one last thing, Ryder, before you go.”

“Mmmm?”

“Tell Jaal to be more careful when you two are being… _intimate_. Hickies can lead to blood clots. And don’t think I didn’t notice the hand-shaped indents on your hips, either. No _vigorous_ activities for the duration of the week, please.”

Sara swiftly walked out of the medbay with her face on fire.

 

When Sara finally opened the door to the techlab she froze in the doorway. Jaal stood hunched over, his back facing her. His form was sunken, shoulders slumped. His head turned partially toward her, his face still hidden. “Hello, Sara.” His voice cracked. “Have you come to see if I am finally broken?” He turned fully to face her. “To see what discovering that my people were…invented, has done to me?”

Sara stepped into the room, letting the door close behind her. She approached Jaal cautiously. His eyes followed her movements. “I’m here, Jaal. If you need to talk.” Taking his hand in hers and holding it to her chest, Sara held his gaze. “I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, right now.” She raised his knuckles to her lips, kissing them softly. Jaal’s gaze softened and he moved his hand out of her grip to cup her face. She leaned into the touch.

Jaal’s gaze trailed off, his eyes focusing on empty space. On nothing. “I’ve been staring out of the window, trying to figure that out.”

“That’s new.”

His eyes focused on her again, only traces of amusement. “True. Angara are usually very free with our feelings.” The amusement was shortlived, his eyes clouding over again with confusion.

“Not talking about all Angara. I’m talking about you.”

“I’m…numb.” He muttered, trying to find words for the complex emotions swirling around inside of him. “I’m in awe.” His eyes cleared and focused on hers once more. “There is a peace in knowing that though the universe is beyond your understanding, it doesn’t need your understanding to function.” Jaal’s lips twitched into a small smile. “That you may even have a hidden destiny.”

Sara laid her hand over Jaal’s. “Does it matter? Your people aren’t shackled to this new discovery.”

“I agree. We don’t owe anything to the Jardaan. Our destiny is our own.” A grin spread across the man’s face. He took Sara’s face into both hands. “I’m not broken, Sara; I’m excited. The Angara were created for a purpose. We were given vaults and golden worlds. All these advanced tools!” All of the hurt was drained out of Jaal’s voice. His bioelectricity thrummed under his skin with excitement. “And there is _nothing_ the Kett can do about it!” Sara can hear his giddiness in his subvocals, rumbling in his chest. “The future holds more for the Angara than a never-ending war with the Kett.” He leaned his head against Sara’s, breathing a contented sigh. His hand moved from her cheek up to her hair, combing through in softly. “ _Much_ more.”

Sara kissed him gently, her hands settling at his hips, pulling him closer. “I love that you can be so open and vulnerable with me.” When she pulled away she could see absolute adoration in Jaal’s speckled blue eyes. “Thank you.”

Jaal sighed, planting a kiss to Sara’s crown. “You make me feel safe. It doesn’t matter if we were created by a god, reborn from our ancestors or exist as the dream of an AI superpower.” His thumb brushed against her lips, cherishing the way Sara softened to his touch. “This discovery changes nothing. Except…ourselves. And that’s…”

“Everything.” Jaal nodded at Sara in agreement. Sara chuckled, pressing her lips to his. “You make me feel safe too, Jaal.” They held each other close, treasuring the small moments they had with each other. Every second spent together, alive, was a treasure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be longer but I didn't feel like it flowed very well. I'll add some of the extracted dialogue into the next chapter. 
> 
> It was going to include messages from Scott to Sara in the chat room that Scott set up.
> 
> Scott made chat handles.


	15. High Noon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang stop by Kadara port for a movie and end up in the middle of some of Sloane's drama. Jaal tries out human clothes. Sara has a lot of feelings and doesn't know how to deal with them. Scott is unbelievable and needs to be stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for panic attack in the chapter. (Right when Sloane and the Charlatan meet. )

Sara leaned up against the railing of the docking platform, fanning herself with her datapad. Even with the vault activated on Kadara and the sulfur levels gradually decreasing in the water, the humidity always got to her. On their way back to the Nexus, Liam had asked Sara to make a quick pit stop at Kadara to find a rare copy of _Last of the Legion_ , the movie he had finally settled on for movie night. Of course, he wanted the extended cut that had been banned and wasn’t part of any lists the Nexus had on hand. Of course, the only copy in Andromeda would be on Kadara. And of course, as soon as they had landed, Vetra and Drack went off to do their shady-ass smuggling business somewhere and they wouldn’t be able to leave for a while.

She watched a team of docking staff load crates of supplies onto the Tempest. Sara had been watching them like a hawk. Kadara was always a good place to refuel on food items the Nexus might not have. Popcorn, snack foods, cow meat. Not earth cow. It just said…Cow. Vetra had purchased it for Sara as a gift. Granted, Sara didn’t exactly know of any other kind of cow in the milky way, but she was going to have Lexi culture test it and run extensive scans before putting that in her mouth. She didn’t trust that steak and she didn’t trust the exiles loading the crates onto her ship.

Jaal approached Sara while she was signing off on the shipment, clad in an oversized tank top and some yoga pants. She had seen Human fashion on Angara on Kadara before, it always looked ridiculous. On Jaal it looked even more so. He seemed visibly uncomfortable, fidgeting with the bottom on the shirt and constantly pulling up the pants, only to have them catch on one of his spur-like protrusion on his lower leg.

Sara was definitely appreciating the extra skin, though. “Jaal what are you wearing?”

“Liam told me that it would keep me cool and make me look ‘rad.’”

Sara snorted. “I think Liam was fucking with you, Jaal. Yoga pants make everything hotter.” She regarded the awkward fit, giving him a once-over with her eyes. “The tank top is nice. I like you’re usual tight-fitting bodysuit but it doesn’t show nearly as much skin.”

“Showing skin,” He started, annoyance thick in his voice. “would not be a beneficial trait for armor, Sara.”

“Yea well I think your thigh straps more than make up for it. Your thick thighs are _really_ attractive.” Her hands wrapped around the band of Jaal’s pants, pulling them up where they were beginning ride down on his hips. She pulled the drawstring tight and tied it off for him. “I’m also quite the fan of that little leather strap on your as-.”

Jaal cleared his throat, a dark purple flush spread across his face. “Sara, please.”

She chuckled, bending to straighten the bottom of Jaal’s pants. “I thought you’d be on the ship sulking. I know you hate Kadara.”

“Hmm. Yes. I do hate Kadara.” Jaal hummed, bringing his hand up to Sara’s cheek to trace invisible patterns on her skin with his thumb. Sara enjoyed the feeling of his skin against hers. She usually had to contend with the material of his bodysuit being in the way of her feeling him. Sara slipped her hands underneath the fabric of the tank, feeling the skin of his hips. “But I love you. And you are not on the Tempest.”

Ryder leaned up on her toes to kiss Jaal. “And I love you.”

A loud electronic beeping sound emanated from Sara’s omni tool. The sudden noise caused the large Angara in her arms to jump. She chuckled, planting one last kiss on his lips before attending to her messages on her omni tool.

**Alpha Twin: _Hey sis, you ok? Did you find the thing?_**

**_SAM sent me those scans from Aya. I like the blue guy with the angry face. Get me his email? ;)_ **

**_Hello?_ **

**_Ok Sara I’m starting to really freak the fuck out and I need you to answer me._ **

**_I swear to god Sara I will steal a shuttle and come after you. >:( _ **

_Shit._ Sara began frantically typing a reply to Scott. She hadn’t noticed her brother messaging her all day. Probably because she’d been on Khi Tasira. Or looking for Liam’s movie. Or making out with Jaal.

**Assfinder Ryder: _I’m fine, Scott, we are back from Khi Tasira and on our way back soon._**

**_Really? Assfinder?_ **

**Alpha Twin: _About fucking time! I was about to knock the doc out and jack a shuttle to find you._**

**_It’s fitting, because you get all the alien ass, ya know?_ **

**_That and you’re kind of an ass._ **

“Problems, dearest?” Jaal wrapped an arm around Sara’s shoulders, peering over her to her omnitool screen.

“Scott’s been blowing up my omnitool all day and I’ve just now noticed.” She chuckled. “He’s a fussy little Pyjack.”

The Angara blinked in confusion. “Blowing up--Sara, your omnitool is still intact I do not understand….” He caught himself midsentence when Sara choked out a snorting laugh. “Ah, _idiom_.” He didn’t look amused.

“Yep. Just give me a few minutes. I’ll reassure him that I’m fine then we can depart for Nexus.”

**Alpha Twin: _So, did you find that alien computer network thing?_**

**Assfinder Ryder: _Meridian-Terafomring-and no, we have a lead but it’s a longshot._**

**_Even if I did have something more concrete, Lexi grounded me for taking off while on medical leave without her authorization._ **

**Alpha Twin: _You didn’t tell her you were going?_**

**_You Sneaky little shit!_ **

**_I’m proud of you! >:)_ **

**Assfinder Ryder: _I’m not exactly proud of it, Scott._**

**Alpha Twin: _Of course, no, you’re the good twin._**

**_I’ve always been the roughish bad boy. ;)_ **

**Assfinder Ryder: _You put those winking emojis away._**

**Alpha Twin: _;) ;) ;) ;)_**

**Assfinder Ryder: _Unbelievable._**

“Pathfinder Ryder?” Sara looked up from her omni tool. A team of outcasts approached her and Jaal, their guns out and their fingers on the trigger. _Shit._ She was unarmed. Guns were not allowed on Kadara. Jaal tensed at her side, his bioelectric currents pooling in his arms, ready to move through his hands and strike the outcasts if they dared to even point their guns in the general direction of Sara.

She lifted her hands in the air in a sign of surrender. “Whatever it is I didn’t do it.”

The Turian at the head of the group didn’t seem amused. “Funny.” He growled. “Sloane wants to see you.”

Sara lowered her hands, convinced they weren’t about to shoot. “What does her royal highness need this time?” Her eyes darted between the outcasts. “What? No Kaetus? Usually he does the queen’s dirty work.”

“Just get moving.” Sara nodded, biting her lip. She began to move forward, Jaal at her heels. The Turian stuck his arm out, stopping Jaal. “Sloane wants to speak to the Pathfinder _alone_.”

She felt Jaal’s bioelectric flow spike in anger. He opened his mouth to object but Sara sent him a quick zap. “Go back to the ship. I’ll be fine.” One of the outcasts grunted impatiently. “I’ll be back in a bit and then we can leave this sulfuric hellhole.”

The Angara grumbled and backed away slowly. “If they harm you…” Sara smiled and planted a quick kiss to his cheek.

“Don’t worry about it, Jaal. I’ll be back in a bit.”

His eyes flicked between the outcasts with a glare before he huffed a small growl from his throat and backed away toward the Tempest. His body language and bioelectric output read that he was severely annoyed by the order. “I will be observing through SAM. Be careful, Darling One.” His hand lingered on her shoulder momentarily before shooting pointed looks at the guards. Jaal backed toward the tempest.

Impatiently, the Turian growled, his subvocals deep and angry. “If you two are finished,” He gestures the butt of his gun to the door into Kadara port, away from the docks. “Sloane isn’t a patient woman.”

“Oh, believe me, spiky, I know.” Sara patted his shoulder. He growled low in his subvocals and shrugged her off. “Alright, take me to your leader, big man.”

“You are _so_ lucky Sloane ordered us not to hurt you.” The Turian groaned. One of the guards, an Asari, snorted at the retort.

Sara shrugged. “I get that sentiment.”

 

Sloane was _pissed_. Maybe pissed was an understatement. Maybe furious was a better word for it. The woman refused to talk to Sara as she drove the nomad. She didn’t respond to any of the Pathfinder’s attempts at coercing a conversation out of her. There wasn’t even a reaction to Sara’s awful driving. Sloane didn’t even grumble when Sara sent the nomad veering off a cliff. Or two.

“So, any plans on what to do once we meet up with the mysterious criminal that beat up your boyfriend and is trying to steal your throne?” Sloane responded with a sharp kick to the back of Sara’s seat, causing her to lurch forward and almost hit the wheel of the vehicle.

“Just drive, Pathfinder.”

“Holy shit.” Sara chuckled nervously. “You don’t have a plan.”

“I plan to put a bullet in the bastard’s head.”

Liam groaned from the backseat, next to Sloane. “This whole scenario screams trap and I just want to say, right now, on the record, that this is a _very_ bad plan.” The human yelped when Sloane elbowed him in the side.

“I know it’s a fucking trap, that’s why I brought the Pathfinder.”

“Yea because I sure am good at deterring traps!” Sara retorted sarcastically.

“Sara is correct, she does seem to fall for them often. She is very trusting.” Jaal chimed in from the passenger seat. Sara shot him a look. “Ah. No offense, Darling One.”

“The Charlatan has ordered their followers not to harm Ryder. For whatever reason, one I can’t possibly think of other than to use you as a pawn, they like you.”

 “So, I’m the meat shield.”

Sara saw Sloane smirk in her rearview mirror. “Now you’re catching on.”

Ryder cleared a ridge, rocketing the nomad through the air and into the clearing near their rendezvous point. “And what makes you think they care enough not to shoot me to get to you?” _‘Sara, I detect a switch nearby that activates an opening._ SAM spoke to Sara on their private channel. _‘This is likely the site for the rendezvous with the Charlatan.’_ She engaged the nomad’s scanning systems to pick up the approximate location. “Thanks SAM, we’ll take it from here.” The nomad slowed to a stop and parked near the source that SAM detected. “Alright kids, road trip’s over, get the fuck out of my car.”

Sloane shot Ryder a look but opened her door to get out, slamming it behind herself. “Hey, we do not slam doors in the family! I’ll ban your road trip rights and send you to bed without desert!” Sara quipped.

Sloane “Can it, Ryder; or I’ll put a pulse round in your skull before the Charlatan gets a chance.”

“No need to throw a tantrum.” Sara stepped out, stretching her legs. “Jeez, you must be a good shag if Kaetus puts up with your temper all the time.”

The older woman growled. “We aren’t what you think, Ryder… It’s complicated.” Her tone was soft for a moment. A person underneath the ruthless woman’s veneer. “And if I was you I’d watch your tone with me. I could have you flayed seven ways to Sunday and your fleshless corpse out for adhi scraps.”

_And there’s the bitch I know and hate._

Jaal bristled at the threat and Sara waved him off with a signal to not bother with Sloane. “Well, considering we’re all about to die in the most obvious trap in the history of the universe, I guess you’ll have to catch me in the next life, huh?” Sara located the switch to open the access tunnel. It clicks and SAM sets a new coordinate on her omni tool. She curtsied, flailing one hand in a complicated, overly dramatic gesture before bowing. “After you, your highness.”

Sloane pushed Sara out of the way roughly, striding past the nomad and over a hill to the coordinate’s location. Once she is out of immediate hearing distance Sara turns to the others. “Stay sharp in there, if things turn south we focus on escaping with our lives, not hers.”

“I can live with that.” Liam shrugs.

“It would honestly be a pleasure.” Jaal chimes, readying his rifle.

The three followed Sloane over the hill to an open door in the ground, triggered by the switch. The decent is not long and it doesn’t take much time to step into a large room mostly shrouded in shadow.

Sloane scoffed. “Is the Charlatan so much of a coward that he didn’t show for his own meeting?”

Sara wandered a bit from Sloane to keep a look out, gun ready. The older woman was too cocky. If anything, this would be an ambush.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

Sara froze, her blood running cold in her veins and her heart like a lump of ice in her chest. The world seemed to slow down as she turned to face the body attached to the familiar, silky voice that called from the darkness of the room. He stood on a ledge, half in the shadows. His eyes glinted with their usual mischief and something darker. A confident smirk rested casually on his lips like usual. He looked everything like the man Sara had met in Kralla’s Song but altered, changed in some tiny way that was so small that one could almost swear it wasn’t there at all. “Reyes…” She breathed, looking him over slowly. But something had changed. Puzzle pieces began to click together in Sara’s mind.

“We came here to meet the Charlatan, not some third-rate smuggler.” Sloane spat.

“They’re one and the same.” Sara croaked. Frantic threatened to giggles tear from her throat, half muffled. “Reyes Vidal is the Charlatan.” Because _of course_ he was. It all made sense in hindsight. Sara felt stupid for not figuring it out sooner. She could feel Jaal move closer to her, a hand ready to throw her back should Reyes attempt to harm her. He attempted to soothe the growing panic in Sara’s chest by sending reassuring waves of bioelectric messages across her skin. The ice in her heart was thawing but the tightness and growing heat in her chest threatened an attack.

“I came to settle things, Sloane.” Reyes hopped from his perch on the ledge and landed with a casual grace in front of Sloane and the others. “Put an end to this war of ours. You against me. One on one.” He flashed a devilishly charming smile. “Winner takes Kadara Port.”

“That’s your plan?” Liam quaffed. “You shoot each other to end the fighting?”

Reyes shrugged. “Better two people shoot each other than hundreds shooting each other and harming innocents in the process.”

“Like you give a damn about innocents.” Sloane stepped forward.

“And you do?” The Charlatan replied, raising a brow. “A duel. No tricks. No more hiding. Just you and me, Sloane.”

He was _lying_.

Sara could tell. He had something up his sleeve. “Winner rules Kadara.” Sloane agreed. She could warn Sloane. Tell her to back out now. The two criminals circled each other.

_Let her die._

**No**

_I want her to die._

**Do I?** It wasn’t like she’d never thought about it. The bitch was always annoying, a thorn in her side.

_We could finally build our outpost._

Sara shook her head and stepped back into Jaal. This was not the time for entertaining intrusive thoughts. _Stab her in the back now and save Reyes the trouble._ **Shut up.** The Angara pulled her into him, holding her from behind. She busied her hands with his rofjinn, her fingers twitching for the knife at her thigh. Her palms itched and tingled with built up potential energy. Sara clenched her jaw tight.

 _‘Sara’_ SAM interrupted her racing thoughts. _‘Reyes Vidal has a sniper trained on Sloane Kelly.’_

She saw the glint of light reflecting off the scope in the darkness. She hadn’t had an attack since Lexi had prescribed her medicine. The thoughts were always there but they were like a distant whisper in her mind that didn’t affect her; and sometimes she’d worry a lot or become uncomfortable because something was out of place or a number sequence didn’t land on a perfect interval of five, but she hadn’t felt _this_ in months. Sometimes she didn’t need a trigger, it would just happen. But the betrayal she felt. The shock and fear.

Jaal noticed the glint of the scope a few seconds after Sara. He pulled her back out of the line of trajectory, his grip on her gentle yet firm. “Don’t.” He whispered to her. The shot rang out and struck Sloane through her temple. Jaal held Sara tight against him when he felt her muscles tense to rush forward.

Reyes held his index finger and thumb in the mockery of a gun. “Bang.” He smirked down at Sloane’s corpse, paying no attention to Sara. Reyes blew imaginary smoke from his finger before turning his gaze to Sara and Jaal. Liam readied his pistol on the other side of the room and Sara could hear the click of the sniper reloading. As Reyes approached, Jaal let go of Sara and stepped in front of her, his grip on his Firaan. “There is no need for you to send your boyfriend after me, Sara.” Reyes showed his hands and gestured for his sniper to stand down. “I only wanted Sloane. I would never hurt a friend.”

“Didn’t think you had friends.” Sara attempted to hide the shaking in her voice. The attack was receding but she still felt the tingling in her limbs and the weakness in her legs.

His eyes softened, sad. “I didn’t either. Until I made one.” He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I understand if you no longer wish to associate with me. I am not an easy man to know.”

Her eyes flick down to Sloane’s body. The woman’s eyes were still open, shocked. “I didn’t want her to die.” She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. “She was awful. A murderer.” Sara looked back up to Reyes. “But I didn’t want her to die.”

“With her gone, Kadara port will be safer. She would have never allowed you to open an outpost here. She would have never offered you the support and safety that I can.”

Jaal growled. “And you believe we can trust you?”

Sara laid a hand on Jaal’s shoulder to quiet him. He still resonated with anger and distrust but he did not voice it. “But did she have to die?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in his voice and his eyes revealed he was also convinced of it. “Sloane Kelly was a plague on Kadara Port. She may have won the respect of the Angara here by killing the Kett, but she would have betrayed them all in a heartbeat if there was profit and power in it for her.”

“You wouldn’t?” Jaal challenged. His muscles tensed under Sara’s touch.

“Perhaps if I was half the man I used to be.” His soft gaze flicked to Sara. “But a lovely young woman showed up on Kadara one day and reminded me of the man I could be.”

Despite the situation, a smile tugged at the corner of Sara’s lips. “What happens now?”

Reyes smiled warmly at Sara before he shifted back into business mode. “Now I begin driving the remaining Outcasts out of the port, appoint a figurehead to rule in my stead and get everything clear for the initiative to set up a port.”

“We already have a spot marked.” Liam responded, his hand still on his gun but inside its holster.

“Then I’ll contact you when it is safe to send settlers here.” Reyes addressed Sara and ignored Liam, causing the man the pout. He bowed dramatically towards Sara and turned to leave. “Until we meet again, Pathfinder.”

“Reyes.” Sara called after him, gently pushing past Jaal. The Spaniard turned. “Next time I see you you’d better pay me for all the drinks you skipped out on.” He smirked, winking at her with mischief in his eyes before turning to leave, his followers leaving after him, one with Sloane’s body tossed over their shoulder.

 

Sara, Jaal and Liam boarded the Tempest to leave Kadara and all of it’s bloodshed behind them. The Pathfinder flopped down on her bed for some rest when her omni tool beeped. She checked it with a groan of annoyance.

**Alpha Twin: _SAM sent me a picture of this really hot guy you were talking to earlier and I was hoping I could get his email?_**

**Alpha Twin: _You know, the one with the nice, dark hair and the amber eyes?_**

**Alpha Twin: _I’m usually not into human guys but hot damn!_**

**Assfinder Ryder: _No. He’s off limits._**

**Alpha Twin: _How many men are you keeping to yourself?!?_**

**Assfinder Ryder: _He’s a criminal and a liar._**

**Alpha Twin: _So, he’s a bad boy??? ;)_**

**Assfinder Ryder: _No. End of story._**

**Alpha Twin: _> : (_**

Sara groaned, signing off and turning over in her bed, eager to put the day’s events to rest in her mind. Her Omni tool beeped again.

**Alpha Twin: _I got his contact info from SAM because at least he’s wiling to be my wingman._**

**_See you when you get back cockblocker >:p _ **

**Assfinder Ryder: _Oh my god…_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead and I haven't abandoned this fic!
> 
> My fiance came down for 2 weeks because he had 2 weeks off work. I didn't write anything for a while because I was spending time with him and working. Maybe semi-regular updates from now on? 
> 
> Also Scott's chat handles took me a bit to come up with and I hope you guys appreciate them.
> 
> I have OCD, Anxiety and Depression so all of the panic attack scenes and stuff are based off my experience with these disorders. Please don't poke fun at them.


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